My life on the line
by Catten90
Summary: Sakura and her two best friends are in trouble, is someone out to kill her? and why? With someone trying to kill her, her best friends sent away and help coming from the security organisation Akatsuki what will happen? Will they reveal the killer? How is it connected to her dead father and missing mother? And will she find love on the way? AU story. Action, romanace, hurt/comfort.
1. Chapter 1-A repaired life broken again

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**My Life On The Line**

_Chapter One – A repaired life shattered again_

* * *

"Bye Naruto, Bye Sasuke, I´ll see you guys tomorrow." I called back into the large apartment that I had just left.

"Bye Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled back while Sasuke added a more quiet 'see you tomorrow'. I smiled and closed the door firmly before heading out on the streets.

My name is Sakura Haruno and I´m 22 years old. I have natural pink hair and emerald green eyes rimmed by thick eyelashes. I am an average 5 feet 6 inches with a slim, athletic build and a C-cup chest. I am currently between jobs but I have enough money to not have to worry. My father worked as a successful lawyer when he was alive and since my mother left years ago, I inherited all his money.

My mother left my father and I a few days before my sixteenth birthday and I haven´t seen or heard from her since. Being abandoned like that put me in a light depression that triggered my longing for tattoo´s and piercing´s. The result was that my ears are filled with small silver hoops from top to bottom. I have a tongue piercing, a belly button piercing and an eyebrow piercing in my left eyebrow. I also have a dragon tattooed on my right shoulder blade, its colors black, red and blue and a tattoo of the grim reaper on my right calf.

My father died four years ago, right after my eighteenth birthday. I haven´t celebrated my birthday since then. But he didn´t die of natural causes, he was murdered.

The last case he worked was a nasty one, a gang with contacts in high places had their leader sent to prison for murder and attempted kidnapping. They of course were not happy and the police said that they were most likely the ones that ordered the assassination of my father.

I turned a corner and bumped together with a man dressed in a large black jacket despite the early summer heat. I apologized but he didn´t even stop so I shrugged and continued on my way.

Soon I reached my small apartment that was located on the second story of a three story building. I had a small living room, a tiny kitchen and a slightly larger bedroom and bathroom. The floors were wooden and the walls painted in different warm colors like yellow, cream and tan.

The furniture was nice but worn yet I didn´t buy new things despite having the money to do so. I dropped my bag by the door and clicked on the TV on my way to the bathroom to take a shower.

My hair was cut in a cute pixie style and was quickly washed, my body took a little longer with shaving and whatnot but soon that was done too and I exited the shower smelling slightly of oranges from my body wash.

I wrapped myself in a large baby blue towel and walked back out to the living room to go to the kitchen. But my eyes locked on the TV and I sank to the floor, shaking as I realized what was showing on the news.

The gang leader of the Sound gang, Orochimaru, had been released from prison. He was the one who ordered the murder of my father.

Suddenly I remembered the man I had bumped into earlier and a bad feeling erupted in my stomach. I went straight for the bag that I had dropped on the floor earlier and searched through it frantically.

I small piece of paper caught my attention and the feeling of dread only increased. I picked it up with shaking hands and read the short sentence that was written on it.

* * *

_We will come for you_

* * *

The note fell from my hands as I flinched when the sound of my cellphone ringing startled me back into the present. I picked up my phone with shaking hands and answered without looking at who it was.

"H…Hello?" I asked with a shaky voice.

_"Sakura are you okay? I saw the news…"_ Sasuke´s voice reached me from the other end and I felt like I wanted to cry. But I hadn´t cried for several years and I wasn´t going to start doing it now.

"I´m… I´m…" I was stuttering and currently unable to complete my sentences it seemed, thankfully Sasuke knew me very well.

_"Take it easy Sakura, breathe, Naruto and I are on our way over right now so don´t be scared when we unlock your door."_ He kept talking to me but I had stopped listening. They were on their way and that was enough.

We had been friends for what felt like forever but in reality was only fifteen years. We had met when we started first class and had been inseparable ever since. When we were seventeen they came to me and told me that they were gay and in love with each other, fully expecting me hate them.

But I didn´t care about that and our friendship grew even stronger.

I was still in a sitting position on the floor, clad in only a towel and staring blankly ahead of me when Naruto and Sasuke unlocked my front door and entered my apartment.

Naruto's spiky blonde hair and azure blue eyes appeared in front of me and I blinked twice before focusing on him instead for on nothingness.

His large hands clutched my shoulders and he asked me seriously. "Sakura-chan are you alright? Did something happen?"

I silently held up the note in front of his face and he took it carefully from my hand before standing up and reading it together with Sasuke.

"I´ll call my brother, he might have an idea on what to do." Sasuke said and then discreetly told Naruto to take care of me while he did that.

Sasuke´s older brother, Itachi, worked with his friends as private investigators slash bodyguards. They did all kinds of work that was connected to security. They were known as the Akatsuki and the best in their field of work.

Sasuke disappeared into my kitchen to make his call and Naruto instead of helping me up, simply picked me up bridal style and carried me into my bedroom where he put me down on the bed.

He fetched another towel from the bathroom and dried my hair before grabbing my hairbrush and gently combing through my hair until all knots and tangles had disappeared. He then patted my body dry and dressed me in clean underwear as well as a pair of pajama pants and a tank top.

That he dressed me might´ve been uncomfortable and awkward had he not been gay and one of my best friends for so long. As it was now, it didn´t bother either of us, it was just another way to care for each other when something happened.

I curled up under the covers of my bed and felt Naruto follow me after shedding his shirt and his pants. It was close to 11 pm so it was no wonder he was tired as well. I felt his boxer clad body stretch out next to my own and then Sasuke appeared in the doorway.

"I couldn´t get a hold of Itachi but I left him a message, he´ll call back when he can." Sasuke told us before flicking off the lights and shedding his own clothes before joining us in my large bed. He crawled in on the additional side of me and I sighed contently and remembered when we had slept all three in one bed like this the last time.

It had been a few months ago, after an especially rough day and a visit to the cemetery in pouring rain. I hadn´t wanted to be alone so I went over to the apartment the two of them shared. They let me in of course and since I was both drenched from the rain and shivering with cold they first put me in the shower before tucking me into bed sandwiched in between them for warmth and comfort.

I felt a tiny smile graze my lips before I fell asleep.

* * *

_I was heading home to the small house my father and I shared after a night out with my friends when it started raining. I swore quietly and ran the last way up to the door._

_I fumbled to get the key inside the lock but when I put my hand on the door for support it opened and I was left standing with an increasing feeling that something was very wrong._

_"Dad?" I called out and took a few hesitant steps inside the dark room. I found the light switch and turned on the lights, only to reveal the mess that had been hidden in the dark._

_The entire room was trashed, like there had been a fight or if someone had looked for something that they didn´t find. I called out for dad another time and when I still didn´t get an answer I started to get worried. Had something happened to him?_

_I looked through all the rooms on the bottom floor without finding anything except from trashed rooms in complete disarray. I then turned towards the dark staircase and started climbing it with trembling limbs._

_When I reached the top I saw that the lights were on in the room that was my father's office. I had to swallow a few times to get rid of the nervous lump in my throat before I could gather the courage to push open the door to his office._

_The sight that met me was horrifying and scarred me for life._

_The entire room was painted red with dark, half-coagulated blood dripping off everything. I turned to the side and emptied the content of my stomach on the hallway floor._

_In the middle of the room was my father. He was on his back on the floor and his internal organs were spread out throughout the room, his chest and stomach just empty cavities._

* * *

I jerked awake and immediately noticed that it was no longer night outside, the morning sun filtered through my sheer curtains and made delicate patterns on the floor.

I was covered in a fine sheet of cold sweat from the lingering nightmare that really was a memory and looked around to try and locate where my boys were.

I was alone in bed but could clearly hear them talk as well as the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen. It seemed as if they were making me breakfast.

I got out of bed and after a quick look at the thermometer; I picked out an outfit for the day and headed for the shower. When I exited the bathroom about fifteen minutes later I once again smelled faintly of oranges.

I was dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a loose fitting black t-shirt with a picture of a zombie-kitty on the front. I brushed my hair and pulled on socks before tying on a pair of black converse and joining the boys in my kitchen.

The boys seemed to just have finished making breakfast and on my table were pancakes, different kinds of fruits and berries as well as a small bowl of whipped cream and a bottle of syrup.

I poured all three of us some orange juice before we sat down to eat. The food was delicious and while we ate, Sasuke told me.

"My brother called back this morning, he and his partner are coming over in a little while, they wanted to talk to you directly Sakura." He said seriously and I frowned.

"They think this is serious?" I asked him and he nodded his head slowly.

"They might…We´ll just have to wait until they get here and see what they say about it."

We sank into silence after that and the rest of the meal passed quickly, I offered to do the dishes since the boys had cooked the food and they smiled at me before going into my living room to play left for dead on my x-box 360.

I heard the boys talk and laugh while killing zombies and that put a smile on my face while the dishes were done and then dried off and put away. I was thinking about what would happen when Sasuke´s brother and his partner showed up.

I remembered Itachi from when we were younger but I hadn´t seen or met him at all for about eight years since he had moved out when he turned eighteen. I knew nothing of his partner or the rest of the Akatsuki except for that their youngest member was only two years older than me.

I wasn´t sure what to expect and I didn´t like it.

Besides, the Akatsuki were quite expensive and I didn´t know if I could afford their help should they decide that I need it. But what should I do if it really were Sound coming after me because of my father?

I felt a headache start to build and I pinched the bridge of my nose to relieve some of the pain while pulling a glass from the cupboard before filling it with water that I used to swallow a pain pill.

I almost dropped my water glass when a voice sounded from behind me.

"How are you holding up Sakura-chan?" I spun around so that I was facing Naruto before I told him.

"Don´t sneak up on me Naruto! You´re going to give me a heart attack someday…"

"Sorry Sakura-chan…" He apologized and I sighed before answering his original question.

"I honestly don´t know how I´m holding up Naruto… I´m a mess… It´s like everything is coming back to haunt me and I can´t figure out why they would come after me now? They have already killed my father and my mother has been missing from my life for the last six years so I don´t understand why? I don't know anything about them except for what can be learned by watching the news… what do they want with me?" I ranted and Naruto let me talk without interrupting me.

When I finally ran out of words Naruto stepped closer and wrapped his arms around me in a hug and I let my body relax against his before admitting.

"And I´m not sure it's a good idea to involve the Akatsuki in my problems… What do I do if they decide that I need help? I don´t think I can afford them…" Another voice added his opinion from the doorway and I looked in that direction to see Sasuke´s dark eyes rest on me.

"Don´t worry about that just yet Sakura, Itachi is coming here as a favor to me so let´s just hear him out before deciding anything shall we?"

I nodded weakly and opened my arms for him to take Naruto's place in a hug. I was really thankful for having such amazing friends like these two; I would be completely lost without them.

* * *

A few hours later it knocked on the door and I immediately tensed up, but Sasuke stood from his seat on the couch and went to open. I paused the game Naruto and I was playing and watched Sasuke as he looked through the peephole before unlocking my door, opening it for his brother and his partner.

Itachi looked about the same as I remembered, he was a little taller, about 6 feet but had the same black eyes that seemed to see through your body to your soul and the same long, silky black hair that he kept back I a loose ponytail.

He was dressed in form-fitting black cargo pants and a black t-shirt with a red cloud with white lining on the back. He filled out the clothes with more muscles than I expected though. I recognized the red cloud as Akatsuki´s logotype and the thigh holster in which I could see a gun was both frightening and a little exciting.

His partner entered last and shut and locked the door behind him. He was a giant of a man, at least 6 feet 5 inches tall and built from only muscles.

I looked like a midget next to him.

His skin was peculiar though, with a pale blue-grey color. His hair was blue as well and he had pale golden eyes that looked oddly kind and gentle combined with his otherwise vicious looks. He was dressed in the same outfit as Itachi only he also had a black backpack over one shoulder.

Itachi should be 26 years old if I remembered correctly and I had a faint memory of Sasuke mentioning that his partner was a year older. I was pulled from my reminiscing when Itachi bowed his head in my direction and told me.

"It´s good to see you again Sakura, too bad it is during these circumstances." I smiled at the man that had been like an older brother to me ever since I first met him when I was seven and he was eleven and answered.

"It´s good to see you too Itachi." I opened my arms with a small smile and let the older man hug me. When he let go he gestured towards his partner and introduced him.

"Sakura this is my partner Kisame Hoshigaki." I had to tilt my head back to be able to look Kisame in the eyes but his wide toothy grin was worth the effort, he had a million dollar smile just like Naruto.

"Do I get a hug as well?" He asked in a dark, rumbling voice half seriously and half joking. I opened my arms wide for him and told him truthfully.

"If you want one, you can have one. I love hugs." His smile grew even bigger and then his massive arms were wrapped gently around my body and I was lifted into the air and pressed against a muscled chest.

His hugs were awesome.

He set me down carefully and then it became all business. Sasuke, Naruto and I returned to our seats on the couch while Kisame sat in my lone armchair, Itachi took a seat on top of my coffee table in front of us and asked.

"So what exactly did happen yesterday? Sasuke only said that you might be in danger and needed help." I glared at Sasuke for making it sound like I was some kind of damsel in distress. Just because I was shocked hearing that my father's murderer was released from prison and now was coming after me for some reason… I sighed and focused on Itachi before asking him.

"You know the circumstances around my father´s death right?"

"Yes he was murdered by the Sound gang because he had their Leader Orochimaru put in prison." I nodded.

"Exactly, yesterday when I was on my way home from Sasuke and Naruto's apartment I bumped together with someone who I believe placed this note in my bag." I told him and handed him the note. "When I came home I took a shower and then I saw on the news that Orochimaru had been released from prison, that´s when I remembered the man I bumped into and searched my bag, finding the note."

Itachi frowned as he looked at the note before passing it to Kisame who also looked at it before asking if he could keep it. I told him that he could and he put it in a small plastic bag that he pulled from the backpack.

"So what do you think?" Sasuke asked Itachi. "Are they serious or are they just messing with her?"

"I´m not sure yet… I have to check a few things but I don´t think this is someone joking." Itachi answered and the ominous silence that followed made chills crawl up my spine.

When Kisame and Itachi had left again, Naruto, Sasuke and I was sitting on the couch not really knowing what to do next.

Kisame had taken the black Ford explorer back to Akatsuki´s headquarters to search the note for fingerprints. Itachi had borrowed Sasuke´s deep blue Nissan skyline and was on his way to the prison where Orochimaru had been imprisoned to search for clues as to what he was planning.

The game was still on pause but no one seemed interested of playing anymore. There was a feeling in the air that something dangerous was about to happen…

* * *

We managed to entertain ourselves and keeping our minds off what might be going on with the Sound for a few hours but when we reached early afternoon I couldn´t take it anymore.

"Gah! I´m going crazy in here! Let´s go back to your apartment or something?" I begged the boys and they shared a look before shrugging.

"Sure we can go back to our place if you want to." Naruto told me and within five minutes we were ready to leave. We went down to the separate garage and I backed out my cute little wrangler jeep that wasn´t so little.

It was the military model, meaning it was wider and higher than the regular ones. It was military green and completely bad-ass. Since it was really hot outside today, I took out my screwdriver and took apart the doors. Leaving only the lower half of them in place, the upper half of them I put in the large trunk.

The boys and I then reentered the car and took off down the road in the direction of the boy's apartment. A few blocks away from our destination something unexpected happened though…

A series of muffled pops followed by dings in the metal of my car indicated that something was very wrong. Someone was shooting at me. A pained moan sounded from the passenger seat next to me and I turned my head to look, only to wish I hadn´t.

The dark blue of Sasuke´s shirt was drenched with blood that seemed to pour from a bullet hole in his right shoulder. I told Naruto and he pulled Sasuke from his seat and onto the floor in the back where he both tried to stop the bleeding as well as avoiding further injuries from the bullets that still bit into my car.

I did my best to zick-zacking through the traffic to make myself a harder target. I also sped up and changed direction so that we were headed towards the hospital. I felt a flash of pain on my left upper arm but it disappeared in the adrenaline rush I felt.

I searched frantically for my phone while still trying not to crash my car when Naruto handed me Sasuke´s phone, Itachi's number already dialed.

"Sasuke?" Itachi answered and I felt so relieved that I almost dropped the phone.

"No it´s Sakura, we´re in trouble! We were on our way back to Sasuke and Naruto's apartment when someone started to shoot at us!"

"Okay Sakura calm down and listen to me, are any of you hurt?"

"Sasuke got hit in the shoulder, he´s bleeding pretty bad. I´m zick-zacking through traffic trying to get to the hospital."

"Okay can you see what kind of car their driving?" Itachi sounded calm but I could hear the worry in his voice. I couldn´t see the vehicle following me clearly so I asked Naruto to look for me.

"It´s a… a ford Everest SUV, a red one." Naruto told me before he swore and pressed a hand against his own upper arm.

"You okay Naruto?!" I yelled over all the noise and got an 'I´m fine' back. Suddenly the windshield was shattered and flying glass cut my face and arms.

"Sakura! Sakura are you okay? What´s happening?" Itachi yelled in the phone and I gave the attention I didn´t need for driving on him. I blinked blood out of my eye and reported.

"It´s a red Ford Everest SUV following us, Naruto took a bullet in the arm and then the windshield shattered." I told him in a voice much calmer than I would have thought, inwardly I was freaking out but there was no time for that right now.

"Okay I have a team out to follow that car, Kisame and I will meet you at the hospital." Itachi told me and suddenly the shooting stopped. I looked back to see a black Ford explorer following the red SUV that had taken a left where I had gone straight.

I sent a quick thank you to the team in the following car and then concentrated on getting to the hospital.

A few minutes later I came to a stop with screeching tires outside the emergency entrance at the hospital and Naruto, despite his own injury got both Sasuke and himself out of the car and inside the building where I could see Itachi meet them and helping them in.

I was still as high-strung as during the drive over though and couldn´t get my seatbelt off so I could go inside and see how my boys were doing. I was just about to freak out when the door opened and a familiar massive blue arm reached over me and undid my seatbelt for me.

I more or less fell out of the car in my eagerness to go to my boys and only Kisame's strong hands held me on my feet.

"Whoa, slow down Sakura, look at me." He ordered and I complied, I could see worry in his eyes as he examined the cut on my forehead and then he noticed blood dripping off of my arm and onto the ground.

"Where does all the blood come from? Did you get shot as well?" He asked and when I didn´t answer he rolled up the short sleeve of my t-shirt, revealing a bullet graze that wasn´t especially deep but bled a lot.

"Come on kitten, you need to have this looked at." He said and before I had time to protest, he had picked me up and was walking inside.

"No I´m fine… I have to check on Naruto and Sasuke." I told him and squirmed in his hold in an attempt to get down.

"You will do no such thing until you get that looked at." Kisame told me sternly. "But if you let this doctor here look at you, I´ll go and check on the others for you, deal?"

"Deal…" I muttered as the doctor started fussing over me.

Half an hour later my wounds were dressed and the cut right above my right eyebrow had been stitched up. Now I was anxiously pacing the small waiting room for any news on my boys since Kisame hadn´t returned yet.

Suddenly he returned though, his tall, blue form hard to miss. He searched the waiting room with his eyes and when they locked onto me he made his way over, an unreadable expression on his face making me even more nervous. He noticed my expression change and quickly reassured me.

"Don´t fret kitten, they´re going to be fine. The bullets went straight through so they only have to stay for observation over the night; they can go home again tomorrow."

"Then what took you so long?" I demanded to know and he actually grimaced before saying.

"Well there´s a slight issue with the Uchiha´s father… But…" Before Kisame could finish that sentence I was on my feet and halfway through the waiting room, heading in the direction of the room my two boys shared.

When I burst through the door Itachi was on the phone with his father and Naruto and Sasuke were in their beds with similar shocked expressions.

I heard Kisame enter the room behind me and when he closed the door, Itachi hung up on his father with an angry frown marring his otherwise beautiful face.

"What´s happening?" I asked in a frightened whisper. Naruto looked up with tears in his eyes but had to look away again so Sasuke was the one who answered me.

"Father heard of my accident… He thinks it´s dangerous for me to be around you right now… He´s flying me and Naruto to Japan for six months, we´re leaving early the day after tomorrow…" He said and looked up at me with eyes filled with sadness that matched my own.

Since we met each other, we hadn´t even gone one week without seeing each other but this time it didn´t seem as if we had any choice. Sasuke´s father had always liked me, but now he saw me as a threat to his son´s health… And perhaps I was just that, a danger to those I loved. Perhaps the two of them leaving for Japan for a while was for the best, even if the thought of being away from them for so long almost broke my heart…

"Oh…" Was all I could say before darkness engulfed me and I fainted.

* * *

So what do you think guys? Please let me know!

If you have any suggestion as to who Sakura should end up with please let me know who and why in a review or a pm. It will be someone from the Akatsuki but Zetzu and Tobi/Madara/Obito won´t be in this story.

Love C


	2. Chapter 2 - Making new friends

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

**My life on the line**

_Chapter Two – Making new friends_

* * *

The short amount of time that was given to us before Naruto and Sasuke had to leave passed all too quickly…

We spent the time in their apartment, just taking it easy, talking and watching movies. We slept in the same bed at night and only left each other to use the bathroom. Itachi and Kisame kept an eye on us but we were so focused on each other that we didn´t even notice them.

All too soon I found myself standing in front of my two boys in the airport, waiting to see them off as they disappeared from my life for at least six months. I knew Sasuke and Itachi's father wouldn´t let them return unless the situation I was in was solved so if I was unlucky, it could be years before I got to see them again…

But I tried not to think about that, it was hard enough to keep the tears away as it was.

The three of us were standing close together, our foreheads touching as the minutes counted down. We didn´t say anything, we had already spoken all that needed to be spoken about and now we were just relishing in the feeling of each other next to each other.

I knew that both of them would miss me terribly, but they still had each other and knew it was going to be worse for me, since I was left all alone. But I had overheard Sasuke asking Itachi to keep an eye on me when he and Naruto was gone and the gesture made me feel all warm inside.

The announcement came that Sasuke and Naruto had to board the plane and we all heard Naruto wince.

"You have to go…" I told them. "I´ll be fine, I promise…"

Naruto winced again but pressed a kiss to my forehead, tears streaming down his tanned cheeks before he turned away and took his place in the line.

Sasuke gave his brother a quick hug before also pressing a kiss to my forehead, only a single tear escaped from his eyes as he did so but since Sasuke never showed his feelings it was like he was bawling like a baby. He then took his place after Naruto in the line and within another five minutes they were gone both from my sight and currently from my life as well.

* * *

I don´t remember much from the car ride back to my apartment, but in one moment I was at the airport, staring at Naruto and Sasuke´s retreating backs, and in the next one I was sitting at my kitchen table with Itachi across from me and Kisame leaning against the counter.

"So you have finally returned to us…" Itachi mused before asking. "When was the last time you three were away from each other for a longer period of time?"

"Define 'longer period of time'?" I asked with an emotionless voice.

"Three weeks or more." Kisame said and I blinked once before answering.

"Never, the longest time we have ever been apart is five days." I saw both of their eyes widen but they didn´t say anything else.

"Hey what are you guys still doing here by the way? Shouldn´t you be back at the Akatsuki headquarters working?" I asked them after a little while when my mind comprehended that they was here when they shouldn´t be.

"We are working, we are protecting you." Itachi explained to me as if he was talking to a child. I shook my head no stubbornly.

"No you can´t do that, I haven´t agreed to that."

"Do you want us to leave then?" Kisame asked calmly but with a look in his eyes that told me he wasn´t going anywhere.

"N…No…" I answered feeling stupid. "But I don´t think I can afford you, that´s all…" I said and looked away, embarrassment coloring my pale cheeks.

"Didn´t your father tell you about the deal he made with the Akatsuki?" Itachi asked me sounding genuinely surprised.

"No… What deal?" I asked, thankful for the distraction from the fact that Sasuke and Naruto were on their way to Japan right now.

"Since he was the one to lend us the money we needed to start up the business we made a deal with him saying that he and his family could always use our services for free. You really didn´t know that?" Itachi said and I only stared at him with my mouth open. Was that really true? Had my father lent them the money they needed to get their business started?

I was pulled back to the present when Itachi snapped his fingers in front of my face, a slightly worried look on his face.

"Hey Sakura are you really alright? You seem a little dazed."

"I´m fine… just a lot to think about…" I answered before excusing myself and going to my bedroom. I needed to be alone for a little while.

I sat on the floor and pulled a box from underneath my bed, it contained copies of all my photographs and important papers. The originals were kept in a secure safe deposit box since I had been obsessed with the thought of losing them all in a fire or other accident after my father´s death.

I used to pull out the box and look at the photographs every once in a while but this time I was looking for a document that proved what Itachi had told me. And after a while I did find it.

* * *

**Akatsuki Contract**

I, Kizashi Haruno, hereby loans the leader of the Akatsuki, Yahiko AKA Pein, the money needed for the launch of his own security organization that shall be named Akatsuki.

In return for doing this my family and I will be able to use the same organizations services without a money related penalty.

_Kizashi Haruno Yahiko AKA Pein_

* * *

It appears Itachi was telling the truth. It still felt a little weird, my father being the entire reason that the successful organization even existed but at the same time it made me feel a little better.

It meant there was something else to remember him by.

And the fact that I could allow them to help me without having to worry about the cost made everything much easier. But I still planned on giving them something in return for helping me, even if it might only be by baking and hugs.

A picture caught my eyes and I picked it up despite knowing better, it always made me feel sad… It was taken shortly before my father's murder and in the background you could see another photo, the other photo was taken a few months before mother left and I was still a carefree and happy teenager.

When I looked at this picture I never saw the details, only a family of three that shrunk to two that was since decimated to only one.

I quickly put all the things away again before I saw something that triggered memories that I´d rather leave forgotten. Then I left the safety of my bedroom to face Itachi and Kisame again.

They seemed happy to see me but that might just have been wishful thinking on my side because I missed my boys.

"You were right." I told Itachi as I took my seat in front of him again, it didn´t look like either of them had moved an inch but surely they must have…

"You went to check that?" He asked, seemingly surprised.

"Yeah." I nodded and let my eyes travel from Itachi to Kisame. "What did you guys think I was doing?"

"Hiding in your bed, being depressed because your best friends left and plotting on how to get the two of us out of your apartment." Kisame told me straight forward and I actually had to suppress laughter.

"What´s so funny?" Kisame demanded to know and I told him with a large smile on my lips.

"One, I don´t hide in my bed, I hide in small, dark spaces. Two, if I was feeling depressed you would notice because I would either be at a tattoo shop or in a piercing studio or locked inside my bathroom. Three, if I wanted you guys out of here I would jump out through the window and when you ran down to check on me I would climb back up and lock all windows and doors so that you couldn´t come back inside."

Both Itachi and Kisame stared at me like I had grown another head or so but I ignored them and went over to the fridge to check what I could make for dinner.

"Hmm… I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow… How about we order some takeout tonight boys?" I asked over my shoulder and Itachi asked me, once again surprised.

"You don´t mind if we stay then?"

"Of course not, Naruto and Sasuke used to stay here all the time. I´m used to being around other people and I don´t really like being alone…" I told him sincerely and pulled out a bottle of sake. "Who´s up for a game of 'I have never'?" I asked them while returning to my seat at the table.

Kisame was all for it and while Itachi declined the sake he fetched himself a tall glass of water and agreed to join in on the game anyway. I allowed Kisame to start the game since he seemed really eager to.

"I have never… kissed someone of the same sex." He said proudly and stared intently at both me and Itachi, Itachi didn´t move a muscle to Kisame's disappointment but I shrugged and drank my shot. as I refilled my glass I felt Kisame's gaze burning on me and I looked up, met his eyes and told him.

"I was sixteen, I was curious."

"Are you a lesbian?" I burst out laughing at Kisame's question but Itachi smacked his partner on the back of the head.

"No I´m not a lesbian, I´m totally straight. But I had to try it to find out right?" Kisame chuckled at my logic and then Itachi continued with the game.

"I have never gotten a tattoo." He said and both Kisame and I drank.

"You have a tattoo?" I asked him curiously and he nodded.

"Yeah, I´ve got a great white shark across my shoulders. What do you have?"

"I have a dragon on my shoulder blade and the grim reaper on my calf." I answered before continuing the game. "I have never… crashed a car."

To my surprise Kisame burst out laughing while Itachi blushed and took a sip of his water.

"I accidentally hit a parked vehicle once." Itachi explained but Kisame laughed even harder and added.

"And the reason he hit a parked car was because there was this hot chick walking on the other side of the street only dressed in a pair of short-shorts and a bikini top." That made me start laughing as well and it took almost five minutes before we could continue with the game.

When the three pizza´s arrived twenty minutes later Itachi was sober, Kisame was buzzed and I was drunk. We had moved to the living room and when Itachi went to the door to get our food Kisame leaned closer to me and said.

"I dare you to get Itachi drunk, he´s a real lightweight and if he tastes alcohol he will refuse to drink it."

"You're on." I told him before Itachi returned and we had to give our attention to the food. Itachi ate his pizza, I ate half of mine and Kisame ate both his own and the other half of mine.

Then I made a tour in the kitchen to make drinks since the sake bottle was empty. I mixed two drinks to myself and Kisame where you clearly could taste the alcohol and then I mixed a drink to Itachi which contained even more alcohol but didn´t taste anything like it.

I handed Kisame and Itachi their drinks and Itachi took a careful sip of his drink before his eyes widened and he happily took a bigger drink.

I smiled evilly before telling Kisame that it was his turn.

"I have never… gotten a piercing… and those in your ears don´t count kitten!" I kept staring at him as I raised my glass and took a large gulp, making him swallow deeply. Then I noticed in the corner of my eye that Itachi also took a drink and I immediately demanded to know.

"You´ve got a piercing? Where?"

"He has one in his left nipple." Kisame said with a wide smile. "He had it done on a dare a few years ago and came to like it so he kept it."

"That´s awesome! Can I see? I´ll show you mine if you´ll show me yours?" I teased and got a blush out of both of them. But Itachi did lift his shirt so that I could admire the small silver hoop in his nipple.

And then when they both watched me with eager eyes I firstly pulled the hair away from my eyebrow so they could see the small barbell I had in there. I then lifted my shirt and showed them my belly button piercing before sticking my tongue out at them, showing off my last one.

The night ended in laughter when Itachi fell of his chair and passed out. I had Kisame put him in my bed and he immediately stretched out on his back and put one arm under his head.

Just like Sasuke always did…

My laughter turned into something that I would fervently deny was a sob but most others would say was and I sat down on the floor with a thud.

Kisame kneeled in front of me with a slightly afraid expression, it almost made me laugh again, that Kisame was terrified that I would start crying.

"Hey what´s wrong kitten? Please don´t cry…" He begged me and I gave him a small watery smile.

"I´m not going to cry, I haven´t done that in years, it´s just that Itachi looks so much like Sasuke right now, Sasuke always sleep like that as well…"

I looked up at him and shook my head sadly before saying.

"Don´t mind me… I´m just being silly."

"You´re not being silly kitten, you just need to get some sleep." Kisame said and pulled me to my feet. He led me over to the other side of my bed and lifted the covers for me to climb in.

After he had tucked me in he turned to leave but I grabbed his wrist and told him.

"You don´t have to go… You´ll fit in the bed too."

I felt him hesitate so maybe he wasn´t so drunk as I had believed earlier, but in the end he gave in and took the space I offered. With both of them in my bed I was as usual sandwiched in the middle and feeling warm and safe, I soon drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning I woke up alone and while it may have been because it was almost 10 am, I believe it was because Itachi and Kisame hoped I didn´t remember that they had slept in my bed with me.

And when I thought about it I could understand why, since they were technically working, I now had the means to sue the Akatsuki for not doing their job. Not that I would ever do that but that was probably what they were thinking.

So as I collected clean clothes for the day and locked myself in the bathroom, I decided not to say anything about it. I showered and dressed in a pair of light blue distressed jeans and blue and grey striped tank top before pulling on my regular black converse.

But when I entered the kitchen, expecting to find Itachi and Kisame I found it empty except for a note on my kitchen table.

* * *

_Good Morning Sakura._

_I´m sorry we had to leave like this without notice but we had a meeting at the Akatsuki headquarters that needed our attention. We have a contractor watching over you for now and we will return later._

_Please be careful_

_Itachi Kisame_

* * *

I put the note down and peeked out my window to try and see if I could spot the contractor that they said was watching me. I couldn´t see anyone but figured that if I had seen them, they must not be very good at their job.

I opened the fridge in search for food but instantly remembered that I needed to go food shopping since there was no food to be found. I sighed deeply but grabbed my wallet and my keys and headed out.

When I came back to the apartment I went directly to the kitchen and put all the food away before going to my bedroom to fetch a book to read.

But when I opened the door to my bedroom all I saw was a sea of red and I dropped to my knees, eyes wide and terrified. My bedroom looked exactly like my father´s office had after he had been murdered; there was even a clean space on the floor that showed where my father´s body should have been.

I was frozen in fear, caught between the past and the present, not knowing what was real and what was fiction.

And that´s how Itachi and Kisame found me an hour later when they returned from the meeting.

"Sakura? Are you home?" I heard Itachi call from the living room, I heard him but my mental state was on the edge of shattering so I didn´t find my voice to answer him.

"Oh god… Itachi!" Kisame's voice sounded from behind me and then I heard fast approaching footsteps before Itachi kneeled on the floor in front of me.

"Sakura? Sakura can you hear me?" He shook my shoulders lightly and I lifted my gaze from the blood covered floor to his worried eyes and then Itachi actually swore, loudly.

"We have to get her out of here Kisame; this is a replica of how the room looked after her father was murdered…"

Suddenly the floor disappeared from underneath me and I found myself being cradled in Kisame's arms. I clutched the fabric of his shirt in my tightly fisted hands instinctively and discovered that it made me feel a tiny bit better. It gave me a feeling of safety, like I was a small child being carried by its parents.

When we left the bedroom a loud ticking noise reached our ears and Kisame asked worriedly.

"Itachi what is that?"

"Some kind of explosive, RUN!" Itachi yelled and then they ran, Kisame holding me tighter against him in an effort to protect me both from the bumpy ride and the imminent explosion.

We we´re halfway down the first set of stairs when my apartment blew up and the explosion sent shockwaves that almost made Itachi and Kisame fall down the remaining stairs. Somehow they managed to stay on their feet though and continued downwards as burning debris rained down on us.

When we reached the street Kisame set course on the black Ford explorer but Itachi stopped him by saying.

"No stay away from the car Kisame, it might be rigged to explode as well. I´ll call headquarters and have someone come pick us up."

Kisame nodded and moved away from both the car and the now burning apartment building, sitting down on a low wall a safe distance away. He was still sheltering me with his own body and I still felt disconnected from reality though.

Itachi soon joined us and told Kisame that Sasori and Deidara were on their way before once again kneeling in front of me, trying to get me to respond.

When an identical black Ford explorer to the one parked outside my building came to a stop next to us he still hadn´t had any success with me. But it wasn´t like I was unaware of what happened around me, I saw what happened and I understood it but the part of me that was trapped in the past made me unable to react to it.

On one hand I was in the present and aware of what went on around me, on the other hand I was back in my old house, watching my father´s dead body.

I watched as the two people named Sasori and Deidara exit the car and rush over to us. They were both around 5 feet 11 inches tall and had the same lean and athletic yet muscular build.

The one named Sasori had dark red hair and warm brown eyes; he also seemed to be older than his partner with a few years. I would say that he was about 28 years old. His partner that was named Deidara had long blonde hair that was partly up in a ponytail and the rest of it hanging loose. His eyes were a beautiful sky blue and I recognized him to be the youngest Akatsuki member at 24 years old.

"What happened? What´s wrong with the girl?" The redhead Sasori asked Itachi.

"My guess is that someone broke into her apartment when she was out shopping for food and staged her bedroom to look like the murder scene of her father. They also rigged a bomb in the apartment that was probably set with a timer. When we returned we found her on the floor in her bedroom like this, she doesn´t talk or indicate in any way that she is aware of what´s going on around her and I can´t get a response out of her no matter what I do." Itachi explained and the redhead kneeled in front of me and shone a light in my eyes that I allowed without blinking.

"Did she see the scene of her father´s murder in real life?" He asked Itachi and I saw him shake his head slowly while answering.

"I don´t know… I haven´t seen her since I turned eighteen… damn it! I knew I should have checked on her after she lost her father, you think that might be the case?" Sasori nodded thoughtfully.

"It might, there is no physical reason to her behavior so it has to be a mental one. If she saw the real murder scene the fake one might´ve triggered some bad memories that put her in this state."

"Either way we should get out of here now, it´s not safe to be out in the open when she is like this. There´s no telling who´s watching us." Kisame said and stood up.

They all followed his example and in less than a minute we were all seated in the car and headed for the Akatsuki headquarters. And despite everything that happened around me and the memories that kept replaying in front of my eyes I managed to fall asleep in the security of being held by Kisame.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again I was in an unfamiliar environment. I was in the middle of a rather large bed but it was not my own. That´s when I remembered what had happened to my apartment.

I sat up quickly, frantically scanning the room for any dangers. I found none but got off the bed anyway and searched for a weapon to defend myself with. The last thing I remembered was riding a car with Itachi, Kisame, Sasori and Deidara but that didn´t mean that I was safe.

Since I fell asleep I couldn´t know where I was and I was sure that if I in fact was at the Akatsuki headquarters they would understand my way of thinking.

The room I was in was painted in different shades of blue and had two doors connecting to it. I ignored the doors for now and instead searched for some kind of weapon, it didn't take me long to find the gun taped to the back of the bed´s headboard.

I checked it for bullets and to my satisfaction found it to be fully loaded. I heard the door open behind me and instantly took a protective stance with the gun held steady in front of me.

I recognized the long blonde hair immediately though and lowered the gun almost before Deidara had reacted to it being pointed straight at him.

"Whoa… easy there Sakura, no need to point that thing at me, yeah." Deidara said and approached me slowly.

"Yeah sorry about that… But I wasn´t sure of where I was and I didn´t want to take any chances." I apologized and gave him the gun.

"It´s okay, how are you feeling?" He asked while placing the gun back where I had found it.

"I´m fine… trying not to think about what happened to my apartment and all my stuff though…" I replied and sank back down on the bed.

"Sorry about that, yeah… But I´m sure everything will work out." Deidara reassured me and I shrugged.

"Maybe… but everything feels so chaotic now… I do not have a place to stay nor do I have any clothes or other necessary items. You guys are only helping me because of the contract my father made and for some reason the Sound apparently wants me dead…"

"You shouldn´t worry so much, yeah. But if you want I could take you to Pein so you guys could talk, it might make you worry less, yeah." Deidara offered and I gave him a shy smile and said.

"I think I´d like that… Thank you Deidara."

"It´s no problem, yeah. Hey how do you know my name though? I never introduced myself, yeah."

"Oh… I heard it when you and Sasori picked us up outside my apartment building. I heard and saw everything that happened around me but it was like a part of me was locked inside my memories, freezing my body." I explained and saw his forehead form a frown.

"You should talk to Sasori about that, yeah…" He said before leaving to fetch Pein for me. Not two minutes passed after he left before it knocked on the door and the redhead Sasori and Itachi entered the room.

"We met Deidara in the hallway; he said you needed to talk to us?" Itachi said and took a seat next to me on the bed. "This is…"

"Sasori, I know." I answered shyly and turned away from Itachi's questioning gaze. "I was aware of everything that went on around me earlier; it was just my body that had shut down." I explained and Itachi and Sasori discussed what might´ve been the cause for that to happen before Sasori asked me.

"Did you see your father´s murder scene in real life? Was that why you went into mental lockdown?" A flash of pain echoed through my heart but I knew he wasn´t trying to be mean when asking that question, he was trying to help me.

"Of course I did, who did you think found his body if not me? It was just me and him at the time, remember?" I said calmly and tried to keep the picture´s out of my head. I heard Itachi whisper a curse and then Sasori asked another question.

"Then what help did you get after that?"

"None, after the funeral the police told me that there was no way to find the one who had murdered him since it had been ordered by the Sound gang leader, Orochimaru, who at the time was already in prison. Since I had just turned eighteen I was on my own… But I had Sasuke and Naruto to help me so it wasn´t all bad." I explained, trying to make it sound less lonely and awful than how it really was.

We sat in silence for a while since neither Itachi nor Sasori seemed to know what to say in response to that. I saw that both of their hands were fisted tightly though so something was clearly on their minds.

"I´m sorry you had to go through all that alone Sakura…" Itachi said suddenly. "I should´ve checked on you, made sure you were alright but I didn´t know that you only had Sasuke and Naruto to help you out…"

"It´s alright Itachi, you have your own life to live, you don´t have to worry about me…" I tried to tell him but he didn´t listen.

"No Sakura, you´re wrong… We practically grew up together, you´re my adopted baby sister, remember? Of course I worry about you."

His words brought forward a memory from my childhood that I had almost forgotten, and I let it overtake me.

* * *

_"Sasuke you´re so lucky to have an older brother… I wish I had one too…" Eight year old Sakura told eight year old Sasuke at their first sleepover at Sasuke´s house._

_"Yeah Sasuke, it´s really unfair, believe it…" Naruto agreed and got a cute pout on his young, childish face. All three of them were in Sasuke´s room, on mattresses on the floor and were supposed to be sleeping._

_But Sasuke´s parents, Fugaku and Mikoto, didn´t want the three children to be all alone in case they had nightmares from being in a new place so Sasuke´s older brother Itachi was to sleep in the room with them._

_Itachi was twelve years old and the idol of all three children._

_So they were talking quietly, waiting for Itachi to join them with the hopes of that he would read them a story before going to sleep._

_Sasuke seemed to be thinking really hard about something, neither of his friends had any siblings and while he might get annoyed at Itachi from time to time, he also couldn´t imagine life without him. So he was trying to think of a way so that his friends also could get to know how it was to have an older brother._

_Suddenly the door opened and the children immediately became quiet, afraid that they would get yelled at for being up late._

_"Why are you three still awake? It´s really late you know." Itachi said and closed the door behind him before going over to his own mattress._

_Suddenly Sasuke came to think of a solution to his problem and exclaimed rather loudly._

_"Nii-san! Nii-san! Can´t you be big brother to Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun as well? Pretty Please?" The older Uchiha looked surprised at his younger brother's request but after a look at Sakura´s and Naruto's joy-filled faces he said._

_"I guess I could do that…" What else he might´ve intended to say was drowned out in the happy screams from the younger children but the small smile on his face told them enough._

* * *

The memory faded and I was back in the room with Itachi and Sasori, judging by the small smile on Itachi's lips he too had revisited that memory. Itachi then turned to me and said.

"I might not have been there for you four years ago, but I am here now and this time I intend to fulfill my duties as your adopted big brother." He said all that with a smile on his face that made me believe that despite everything that happened right now, despite everything new and chaotic and scary things that went on around me, things would turn out okay anyway…

* * *

So what do you think? Do you follow the story or am I going too fast or writing it too messy?

**Question:** **Who is your favorite Akatsuki and why?**

My favorites are Hidan and Kisame because they are awesome! Hidan because he is immortal and Kisame because he is so big and blue and can breathe under water!

Love C


	3. Chapter 3 - Meeting the Akatsuki

I do not own Naruto

* * *

**My life on the line**

_Chapter Three – Meeting the Akatsuki_

* * *

A little while after Itachi and Sasori left, Deidara returned with a tall man with short and spiky hair the color of burnt copper. He was 6 feet 2 inches and had steely grey eyes, a muscular frame and multiple piercings visible on his face. Deidara introduced him as Yahiko AKA Pein before leaving us alone in the room.

I felt really nervous in the presence of the Akatsuki leader and tried to make myself as small as possible while trying to gather the courage to ask him my questions. Thankfully he took the initiative when he saw that I couldn´t.

"So your father never told you about the deal he made with us?" I shook my head no and shot him a quick look, just to make sure I wasn´t annoying him. He was looking straight at me but his calm demeanor and gentle words eased my nervousness away.

"No he didn´t, I didn´t even know that he loaned you the money to start the business." I admitted and saw from the corner of my eye that Pein nodded thoughtfully.

"That explains why you never asked us for help after his death, I expected you to, you know? But if you didn´t know… Then I guess all of this must feel rather confusing for you? With all the revelations and not to mention the fact that someone´s trying to kill you."

"I´m confused alright… Desperate would probably also fit since I suddenly have become homeless, frightened would also be correct since the Sound wants me dead and I don´t know why, sad because my two best friends are on the other side of the planet and…" Pein interrupted me here and told me.

"Calm down Sakura, there´s no need for you to fret. I owe everything to your father for lending me the money when I needed them. You will stay here with us until everything with the Sound is solved and then I´ll personally help you find another apartment if you need me too. I can´t do much about you missing your friends but I can give you a place to stay, clothes to wear and protection from the Sound gang until that mess is solved for good."

I was amazed by his speech, it was clear that he meant every word spoken and I felt a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders. I never knew my father had meant so much for these guys and somehow that made me feel a little sad…

"Thank you Pein, it means a lot to me…" I whispered and to my surprise I felt one of his muscular arms wrap around me in a loose hug.

"No worries Sakura-chan, it will all work out."

* * *

The blue room I had woken up in turned out to belong to Deidara, so after our talk, Pein brought me to another room that would be mine for as long as I needed it.

The room wasn´t far but I got a chance to see some of the place that was both their headquarters and their home. We were located in a modern multistory building downtown and had two entire floors that belonged to the Akatsuki.

The lower floor was the seventh floor and the top floor were the eight and highest floor of the building. The seventh floor was used as their office and workspace while the top floor was where they lived. The building had a parking garage and guards patrolling the premises 24/7.

The top floor was mostly different shades of white, beige, browns and blacks and was elegantly decorated while still feeling homey and simple. Each of the eight Akatsuki members had their own room, which they had decorated after their own preferences.

The room Pein led me to turned out to be in the same hallway as Itachi's, Kisame's and a guy named Hidan´s rooms. He opened the door for me and told me that his partner Konan would be right with me with some clothes and other necessities. I nodded my understanding and then he was gone, leaving me to explore the room on my own.

The room was simple, but it was beautifully decorated in deep forest greens and scarlet reds. The queen bed had scarlet silk sheets and a dark brown, quilted comforter. The bed frame was made of dark wood, as was all furniture in the room. The walls were forest green but the room didn´t seem dark thanks to the two large windows that was accented by half-transparent golden curtains.

There was a large closet but I had no clothes to put in it so I didn´t give it much attention. The bathroom that was connected to the room held a shower, a toilet and a sink. It was filled with soft-looking towels in a pale yellow color but was otherwise empty of hygiene articles.

Just as I closed the bathroom door, a knock was heard on the other one and when I went to open it, there was a woman on the other side.

She looked to be a year or two younger than Pein who I knew was the oldest one in the organization at 32 years old. She was slightly taller than my own 5 feet 6 inches but had the same athletic yet curvy build as I did. Her hair was an exotic blue and her eyes were the color of burning amber. She also had a small ball piercing in the middle of her lower lip.

"Hi I´m Konan, can I come in?" She asked and showed me that her hands were filled with bags. I immediately opened the door wider for her and gestured at her to come in.

"I´m Sakura." I told her despite the high probability that she already knew that.

"I know, how are you feeling though?" She had sat the bags down on the bed and was now looking at me with worry in her eyes.

"I´ll be okay but a shower and something to eat would be great. And some clean clothes." I told her with a distasteful look at my currently sooty and blood-like-substance covered clothes. Thankfully they were still in one piece so after a ride or two in the washer they should be as good as new.

"That´s partly why I´m here, when Itachi first got the call from Sasuke that you might be in trouble we planned for a lot of different scenarios. Some of them included you having to leave your apartment without any of your belongings so these bags contains clothes and other stuff I thought you would need. We hadn´t expected them to blow up your apartment though… So we´ll have to get your more stuff…" She trailed off and instead emptied the content of the bags on the bed.

There were enough clothes to last me at least two weeks and they all seemed to be both the right size and exactly the style that I liked. There were also items for the bathroom, accessories and a few things to make the room look a little more lived in.

"Do you like them?" Konan asked me nervously, fiddling with the hem of her shirt and awaiting my reaction.

"I love them… But how did you know what style I like? And what size I wear? You even got the bras right…"

"Oh I had Itachi ask Sasuke about your size and what style you liked… But over to food, I was thinking about making everybody a late lunch so that you can meet the rest of the guys while at the same time getting some food. But I wanted to know if you´re allergic to anything?" She asked me with serious eyes.

"Only pineapples." I told her with a smile and nodded when she said that she would come and get me when the food was done so that I could take a shower while she cooked.

When I had closed the door behind her I put away all my new things and chose an outfit that I brought with me inside the bathroom. I put my dirty clothes in a plastic bag to get them washed before stepping underneath the warm spray of water and sighing in bliss.

After simply enjoying the warm water for a while I washed my hair and then my body twice just to get the smell of smoke out. I left the shower smelling of watermelon instead of my usual oranges but found myself liking the smell anyway.

I dressed in a pair of black baggy jeans that hung low on my hips and showed the elastic waistband of my hot pink boy-short panties. I put on the matching hot pink bra with black lace and over that went a black t-shirt with a white kitty-skull on the front. The shirt ended right above my belly button, showing off the jewelry I wore there.

I returned to my bedroom and was fixing my hair when there was a knock on the door and Konan stuck her head in and told me that the food was ready. I put the brush down and followed her to the large kitchen, feeling a little nervous despite having met all of the members except for two.

And I had liked everyone I had met so far so why would the last two be any different?

When Konan and I reached the kitchen it was in total chaos. Pein was in his seat with a deep frown, pinching the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. Sasori and Deidara were having a heated discussion of what true art really was, eternal or fleeting? Itachi was waiting patiently but had his eyes closed so he didn´t have to watch the chaos around him. Kisame was arm-wrestling with a guy with slicked back silver hair, Kisame was winning, and a guy with stitch-like tattoo´s was going over a sheet of paper that looked to be some kind of budget plan or something else that had to do with economics.

None of them even noticed that Konan and I had entered the room.

I watched from the corner of my eye as Konan got angrier and angrier before she snapped and yelled at them.

"WILL YOU GUYS SHUT UP FOR TWO FUCKING MINUTES!"

The room went so quiet that you could hear a needle fall on the floor and all of their faces were suddenly turned towards us. The silver haired one looked like he was about to yell something but the tattooed, brown haired one put his hand over the others mouth to keep him quiet.

"Thank you." She said calmly now that she had their attention. "For those of you that haven´t met her yet, this is Sakura. Be nice to her or I will rip out your intestines and use them as ornamental garlands." She threatened them and I felt myself pale a shade or two. She pushed me down in an empty seat between the two males that I still didn´t know and started serving everybody plates of delicious looking food.

I shifted nervously in my seat, the silver haired one was on my left facing Kisame. I was facing Itachi. The tattooed one was on my right facing Sasori. Then Konan and Deidara were facing each other and Pein was sitting at the head of the table.

The tattooed one on my right held up a pitcher of iced tea in front of me and asked me politely.

"Would you like some iced tea Sakura-san or do you prefer something else? My name is Kakuzu by the way and the silver haired idiot on your left is named Hidan.

His voice was rather dark and coarse, making him sound annoyed even though he clearly wasn´t, at least not with me. His eyes were an alluring red and green and I found myself unable to look away from them because of the beauty in the oddly colored orbs.

"Iced tea is fine, thank you." I told him and despite realizing that I was making him uncomfortable with my staring, I still couldn´t look away. He was simply a fascinating person.

He was tall, standing at 6 feet 3 inches and had darkly tanned, olive skin that was covered with those peculiar stitch-looking tattoos. His hair was brown and shaggy and his body built from only muscles, but his eyes were what kept my attention the most.

But when he actually started to squirm underneath my unrelenting stare I forced myself to look away and concentrated on the food instead. The meal was as delicious as it looked and I was busy listening to Kisame and Hidan telling me about some of their old assignments.

Hidan was another interesting guy; he was 6 feet 2 inches tall and had long and sinewy muscles that moved constantly underneath his pale skin. His slicked back silver hair gleamed like polished silver when the light hit it and his eyes were a stunning amethyst color that constantly seemed to twinkle with mischief.

He had the mouth of a sailor and was rather violent but he was nicer than I had expected and I was soaking up the stories he told me like a sponge.

When it was clear that everybody had finished eating, Pein called for our attention before he told us that I wasn´t to be left alone, not even in this apartment or in their office.

"This building has one of the best security systems in town but it is not impenetrable, so just to be on the safe side there will be someone with Sakura at all times." No one disagreed with him, they didn´t even look like they didn´t agree.

"So my suggestion is that one team is doing protection while the others try and find out why this is all happening." Once again they all nodded in agreement and took the opportunity to ask a question.

"Will I be able to go out?"

"Yes but not regularly and not on your own, we don´t want to make it easy for the Sound to get to you."

I felt that Pein´s answer was fair; he was considering both my safety and my sanity and decided on a compromise that was acceptable to me while still keeping me safe.

All of the Akatsuki members started to leave the kitchen one by one and since I didn´t really know what to do next I went back to my room and laid down on the bed, thinking that a nap might help ease the chaos in my head.

* * *

When I woke up in my new room in my new bed about an hour later, I was no longer alone as I had been when I went to sleep. Itachi was sitting in a stuffed chair and watching me with those dark, mysterious eyes of his.

"Did you go back here just because you needed a nap or did you have another reason as well?" He asked quietly and put away the book he had been reading.

"I didn´t know what else to do so I figured that I would take a nap to try and ease the chaos in my mind." I answered him truthfully and stretched until a series of pops sounded from my back, eliciting a groan of relief from my lips.

"I don´t want you to hide in your room the entire time you´re here…" Itachi said even more quietly and I had to strain my ears to hear what he said.

"Don´t worry Itachi-nii-san. I won´t." I promised him before leaving him in my room to explore the rest of the penthouse. It didn´t take me very long because the place was so well organized but when I reached the large living room I found Kakuzu and Hidan sitting on the couch looking bored while an old action movie was showing on the large flat screen.

I stopped in the doorway and hesitated, I´d rather join them than walking around on my own but I wasn´t sure they wanted my company. Just as I was about to turn around and walk away the same way I had come from, Hidan called out to me.

"Are you going to join us or are you simply going to stand there and watch us?" I felt my cheeks becoming pink but still walked over to them and sat down on the couch. And once again my eyes locked onto the Christmas colored ones that belonged to Kakuzu and I just had to tell him.

"Your eyes are absolutely beautiful."

Their reactions to my statement were hilarious. Hidan burst out laughing and fell off the couch and onto the floor and Kakuzu seemed frozen, as if what I had told him was completely impossible.

"Thank you." His response was so quiet, only a whisper and it made me believe that he didn´t get compliments on his appearance very often if at all. And while Hidan was on the floor, laughing, Kakuzu seemed a little happier than before, even if he would never admit it.

Hidan managed to collect himself eventually and we all went back to watch the movie that was showing even though it was rather boring. I found myself starting to doze off and allowed my head to come to a rest against Kakuzu's shoulder, expecting him to push me off again. But to my surprise he didn´t move and while slowly slipping into sleep, I smiled to myself, hoping that I had made another friend.

I woke when the movie ended and Kakuzu tried to get up from the couch without disturbing me. I sat up straighter and rubbed my eyes before asking him.

"Where are you going?"

"Hidan and I are going out, we are going to talk to some people and try and find out why Sound wants you dead." He answered before disappearing out the doorway.

I remained sitting on the couch for a little while, thinking. Everybody was working hard to help me and while I was grateful for that I needed to help to, otherwise I would go crazy.

So with that decided I got off the couch and started searching for Pein, I had something to discuss with him.

I found him surprisingly enough in the kitchen; he was watching Konan move around as she baked something that might turn out to be cake and he didn´t show any awareness of his surroundings as I took the seat in front of him.

"Pein?" I asked and he actually jumped a little when he realized that there was someone sitting in front of him.

"Yes Sakura?"

"I want to help trying to find out why they want me dead." He looked taken aback at my bold statement, maybe he thought that I´d rather simply hide until the problem was taken care of? Well if he did he was wrong.

"I´m not saying that I should go out with your teams on the streets, but if we can go and get the contents of my safety deposit box then I can go through dad´s old cases and try and find a connection or something." I said when I saw him hesitate. But when he realized that I would still mostly be staying in this apartment, he allowed me to help.

"You can go and get the deposit box tomorrow with a team, but I expect you to do as they say and to be careful. If they know of the deposit box they might very well be watching the bank." I smiled and told him not to worry.

"They shouldn´t be able to know about it, it's not in my name." And then I left the kitchen to try and find Itachi to ask him if I could borrow some of his books to entertain me.

I did find Itachi and he did lend me some books which I was very grateful for later that night when I couldn´t sleep because of all the naps I had taken during the day.

I had just finished my second book when I decided to walk around the apartment for a little while, hoping that moving around a little would ease the now stiff muscles in my back as well as tire me out.

It was 2 am and I wondered what Naruto and Sasuke were doing, I didn´t know what time difference there was between my position and theirs so I didn´t dare call them in case they were sleeping.

During my third lap around the apartment a door opened and a person stepped in my way, halting my restless walking. I recognized the messy red hair and realized that it was Sasori who stood in front of me.

"I´m sorry, did I wake you?" I asked him nervously but he shook his head no.

"No I was awake… but why aren´t you sleeping?" He asked and his brown orbs moved almost constantly over my face and body in search for signs that I was lying.

"I´m not tired, I slept too much during the day I guess." I answered with a shrug. A frown appeared on Sasori's forehead and he spoke again.

"But still… With all that has happened today you should be able to sleep without trouble. There must be something else that´s keeping you awake." Sasori insisted and I felt myself go still.

It was true that there was another reason for my insomnia, but that wasn´t one I planned on sharing.

"Perhaps, but don´t we all have nights when sleep evades us?" I asked him cryptically and turned around to go back to my room, hoping that he would let it go for now at least.

He didn´t say anything as I walked away but I could feel his eyes on me the entire time.

* * *

The following morning came relatively fast despite the fact that I didn´t get even five minutes of sleep. But after a shower and some light make-up there was no way of seeing the lack of sleep on face. I dressed myself in black jeans and a tank top that looked like a patchwork before I headed to the kitchen in search for breakfast.

I was wondering which team would be going with me to get my safe deposit box. Kakuzu and Hidan had returned really late last night so they would probably be sleeping until lunch, I didn´t think they would come with me. My guess was that it would be either Kisame and Itachi or Sasori and Deidara.

I entered the kitchen and greeted the ones present before making myself a plate from all the breakfast food that was put out on the counter. When I took a seat at the table Pein announced who was going to go with me today.

"Itachi, Kisame, you will go with Sakura to fetch her safe deposit box today, Sasori, Deidara, you two will go to her apartment to try and find out more about the bomb that was planted there."

Everybody accepted Pein´s orders with a sharp nod of their heads and after the breakfast was over and done with, everybody got going.

I waited for Itachi and Kisame by the elevator that would take us down to the parking garage and was leaning against the wall with my eyes closed, listening for their footsteps.

I had no trouble hearing when Kisame was getting closer, but I had to really strain my ears to be able to hear Itachi's silent footsteps. They both stopped in front of me and I could feel Kisame leaning closer to try and scare me but when I popped my eyes open and glared at him it was he who flinched back with a yelp.

That made Itachi chuckle and he asked me.

"How did you know what he was going to do? You had your eyes closed the entire time." I smiled a little and explained.

"I was listening for your footsteps to tell me when you got here, and then I felt him lean closer. It really wasn´t a difficult task."

"Wait a little, you mean that you heard our footsteps? Even Itachi's?" Kisame asked me. I nodded.

"Yes I did, I had to really concentrate to be able to hear Itachi though." The boys shared a look and exchanged a few words that I was unable to make out before they turned back to me and asked me.

"Are you ready to go? There shouldn´t be a lot of people in the bank at this time of the day." I frowned a little at the sudden change of subject but let it go and nodded again.

"Of course I´m ready, I´m the one waiting for you remember?"

And with that Itachi brought the elevator up and we took it down to the garage and got into one of the big, black Ford explorers that were used as company cars by the Akatsuki. Kisame was behind the wheel and Itachi in the front passenger seat.

They had placed me in the middle of the backseat to keep me as sheltered as possible. The windows were tinted black to keep people from seeing in but allowed me to see out. I hadn´t forgotten what had happened when I had been driving Naruto and Sasuke home and they had ended up in the hospital. And despite Kisame and Itachi being very capable of their work, I was still nervous that it would happen again.

But the drive down to the bank went fine and we got in and left again with the safe deposit box without any problems. But during the drive back something unexpected happened.

A small pop sounded and then the car swerved across the road as one of the tires exploded. Someone had shot out our tire. Kisame worked hard to keep the car going and in the right direction and Itachi was on the phone, talking hurriedly to someone on the other end.

I was frozen in fear as more bullets bit into the metal of the car and didn´t even flinch when the window on my left shattered and glass bit into my skin. I was clutching the safe deposit box in my arms and was staring straight ahead with unseeing eyes.

Memories of Naruto and Sasuke bleeding popped into my mind and even though the situations were eerily similar, they were totally different at the same time. Unlike last time I felt the fear since there was no adrenaline running through my body, only paralyzing fear.

"Sakura get down!" I heard Kisame yell from the driver's seat as he handled the car with both speed and skill. I heard Itachi curse before he climbed into the backseat to me and forced my unresponsive body down on the floor, covering it with his own.

I felt his hard, warm body on top of my smaller one but even that didn´t get a reaction out of me. I felt like the shooting and the hectic car drive back lasted an eternity but in reality it might have been only ten minutes or so.

I knew when we were back in the parking garage because the car actually stopped and then Itachi got off me, lifting me up from the floor in the process. I was put back on the seat and I felt Itachi's hands run over my body in search for injuries. The only ones he found were a few cuts from when the window shattered.

The door next to me was ripped open and I was engulfed in huge blue arms that just like last time gave me a sense of security and being safe. I was still clutching the safe deposit box in my arms when Kisame carried me over to the elevator, Itachi walking next to us, and took me back up to the apartment where the others were waiting for us.

When the elevator doors opened Itachi took control and after getting Sasori and Hidan to go down and check the car for empty bullet cases, he ordered Kisame and Deidara to take care of me while he, Kakuzu, Pein and Konan went down one floor to try and identify the other car with the help of traffic cameras and a registration number.

Kisame sat down on the couch with me in his lap as Deidara fetched the first aid kit so that they could clean my cuts and try to get me calmed down.

Deidara was quick and gentle when cleaning my cuts and then he tried to draw me out from my frozen state by leaning his forehead against mine so that all I could see was his amazing sky blue eyes.

"Sakura there´s no need to be afraid anymore, you´re safe now, we won´t let anything happen to you." He told me calmly but convincingly and I actually focused on him instead of staring at nothingness.

"That´s right Sakura look at me, you can tell that I´m telling the truth can´t you?" He said and I nodded a little before a few tears escaped from my eyes. Deidara wiped them away and then put on a movie that we could watch while I got my mind back together.

Sitting in between Deidara and Kisame on the couch with a really boring movie playing made me fall asleep though.

* * *

**Question: If you had to spend the night locked in a closet with one of the Akatsuki, who would it be and why?**

I would say Itachi, because he is a gentleman and capable of comfort since I don´t like being locked in small spaces.

Love C


	4. Chapter 4 - My mother did what!

I do not own Naruto

* * *

**My life on the Line**

_Chapter Four – My mother did what?!_

* * *

When I woke up on the couch a few hours later Kisame was gone but Deidara was still with me, my head was in his lap and he was gently stroking my hair with absent movements.

The TV was still on but now there was another movie playing and since Deidara hadn´t noticed that I was awake, it seemed to be better than the one that was on before. But suddenly his eyes found mine and I stretched my body like a cat before sitting up.

"How are you feeling?" Deidara asked and put the movie on pause.

"Better, I feel like me again." I told him honestly and got up from the couch, grabbing my safe deposit box from the coffee table at the same time.

"Where are you going?" Deidara asked as I started to leave the room.

"I´m going to take a shower and then I´m going to start sorting through all the papers in the safe deposit box. I won´t find a connection or a motive unless I look for one you know." I said with a smile before leaving him to watch the movie.

I went back to my room and put the box on the bed as I went into the bathroom to shower and change. I emerged about half an hour later dressed in a black mini skirt, thigh high red and black striped socks and a black long sleeved shirt that hung off one shoulder.

I took a seat in the middle of my bed before unlocking the box with the combination code and emptying its content on the bed. The first thing I did was sorting out all the photos and putting them back in the box, I knew them by heart and there wasn´t anything on them that would help me in the moment.

Instead I started to read all the official papers and private notes that came from dad´s old cases, perhaps I would find a reason to why sound wanted me dead amongst them.

Time flew by as I read through paper after paper without finding anything of interest. But suddenly I came upon a small, worn notebook hidden amongst the papers. I picked it up, curious as to what it could contain. Written on the very first page in the book was my father's name and I realized that he had used it as some kind of diary.

Hope rushed through me and I quickly started reading through the first pages of the book.

* * *

_I… I don´t really know how to do this, but I feel the need to write down my thoughts right now, so much has happened…_

_I have a new case and if I succeed it will give my career a big lift, I´m going to prove that the Sound gang´s leader really is the bad guy everyone believes him to be but can´t prove._

_I just hope that I can keep my daughter Sakura safe while doing so…_

_I know that it will be dangerous and I accept that because if I can put Orochimaru in jail, most of the Sound gang will fall apart, making a huge difference on the streets._

_I want to make the city streets a little safer for my Sakura._

_Should something happen to me (god forbid), then at least Sakura can get all the help she needs thanks to the contract I have with the Akatsuki. I even thought about if I should contact them and use their services as I work this case but I don´t want to make Sakura worry more than she already are…_

_It´s bad enough that her mother left us a few weeks ago, I don´t want her to have to deal with this as well._

* * *

I quickly closed the notebook as a knock on the door interrupted me and I called out to whoever it was to enter while furiously rubbing at the tears that had gathered in my eyes.

The door opened slowly and revealed that it was Itachi standing on the other side. He came up to me and lightly touched the small cuts on my face asking me.

"Are you okay? You seemed rather shocked before."

"I´m fine, I had a nap and now I feel great. I found this notebook and it seems my dad used it as a diary, perhaps I will find something that could help us in it." I told him, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Sounds like a great idea, mind taking a break and join the rest of us for dinner? I believe Konan misses you already."

I shot a surprised look at the clock, was it already dinnertime? It was, so I followed Itachi to the kitchen and took a seat in between Sasori and Deidara.

"So you finally decided to join us huh, we started to think that you had gone into hibernation." Hidan snickered, earning a smack to the back of his head from Konan.

"Behave Hidan." She scolded him and served everyone their food before sitting down at the table as well. Several times during the meal did I feel their gazes lingering on me, I think every single one of them shot me a worried gaze at least once. Finally I had enough of that and told them.

"Stop staring! I´m fine! I won´t break just because they caught me off guard." I then left the table and went back to my room, slamming the door behind me angrily. I sat down on the floor with my back against the now locked door and sighed. I regretted it already…

They didn´t do it to annoy me, they did it because while they were used to situations like that, they knew that I wasn´t and they worried about me. Just like Naruto and Sasuke would…

I sighed again and rested my head against my knees, I was sorry for yelling at them and for slamming the door but I didn´t have the energy to deal with them tonight. I decided to apologize in the morning and instead got off the floor and returned to bed to keep reading in my father´s old notebook.

* * *

_I can´t believe she did that to us… Leaving us was one thing but this? This is unforgivable…_

_My now ex-wife Mebuki left us a few months ago, leaving only a note saying that she wasn´t coming back and not to look for her because she didn´t want anything to do with us._

_But that she actually went to stay with Orochimaru and the Sound gang… Now that is betrayal on a whole other level._

_I can´t tell Sakura about this, she has just recently accepted that her mother abandoned her and I will not tear up old wounds by telling her this. I was actually rather worried for her when it seemed like she was sinking into depression._

_And when she started getting piercing´s and tattoo´s… I didn´t like it in the beginning but now I actually really like her new look._

_But what could Mebuki be planning, joining Orochimaru and his gang?_

* * *

I was itching to read more, to find out what had really happened but getting to know the betrayal my mother had committed against my father was taking its toll on my mind.

But I wasn´t sad in the slightest, I was angry.

Tears of anger and frustration fell from my eyes and dripped down into my lap. I hid the notebook under my pillow and got up from the bed. A quick look at the clock showed me through my blurry eyes that it was close to one am and I was surprised that I had been reading for so long.

I suddenly felt the need to hit something, how dared the woman that used to be my mother leave us for Orochimaru! Without thinking I punched the thing closest to me which turned out to be a mirror. It broke underneath my hand and sharp shards bit into the skin over my knuckles, making them bleed.

I stared at my hand as blood started dripping onto the floor before I cursed silently and fetched a towel from the bathroom to wrap around my hand. I was just about to go and look for a broom to sweep up the shards with when there was a frantic knock on the door.

I opened it, curious as to see who was awake at this hour of the night except for me. Hidan was on the other side of the door, only dressed in a pair of dark purple pajama pants but with worry clear in his eyes.

"Hidan? Is something wrong?" I asked him, not understanding why he was standing outside my bedroom door in the middle of the night.

"I heard a crash. My bedroom is right next to yours, remember?" He said and then I understood. He had woken up when I punched the mirror and gotten worried that something had happened.

"Oh… that´s right, I had forgotten that. I´m sorry if I woke you up." I apologized to him hoping that I wouldn´t have to explain the broken mirror until I could come up with an explanation.

"It´s fine, but what was that crash? If it was loud enough to wake me up something must´ve broken." He said and tried to see into the room, searching for any signs of trouble. I sighed, realizing that he wouldn't leave until I told him the truth. So I opened the door wider, motioning for him to come in and explained.

"I read some things in a notebook that belonged to my father that upset me and I accidentally punched the mirror… I was just about to go and fetch a broom to clean up the shards."

I could see Hidans amethyst orbs widen in surprise when he saw the damage I had done to the mirror and I blushed when he turned his gaze onto me and said.

"Damn girl you clearly pack a punch… You didn´t hurt yourself did you?" I blushed even harder and tried to hide the hand wrapped in the towel behind my back. But Hidan noticed my movements and grabbed my wrist.

"You did hurt yourself then, why would you try and hide it from me?" His grip on my wrist was strong but not painful and his eyes searched mine for an answer, a look of slight hesitation on his face.

I didn´t know what to answer him, telling him that I was embarrassed made me even more embarrassed so that didn't seem like an option… But I didn´t want to lie either…

"Is it me?" Hidan asked suddenly, pulling me from my train of thoughts. "Am I making you uncomfortable? Is that why you were hiding that you injured yourself?" My eyes snapped up to meet with his and what I saw in them made me inwardly flinch back a little.

His beautiful eyes held sadness that came with being misunderstood and shunned over and over again. He knew that he was a rather violent character and he was fine with that because he also knew that he was capable of kindness.

But other people didn´t see that, they saw only the violent side of him and didn´t believe him capable of kindness. And because of that he had become hesitant when it came to share his kindness with others.

"No Hidan it´s not because it´s you, I would have tried to hide it no matter who had been knocking on my door. It´s… It´s embarrassing that I lost control like that and broke the mirror and that I hurt myself didn´t improve the situation…" I told him while looking away, a blush burning brightly on my face.

The grip he had on my wrist tightened for a moment before loosening up again and then his other hand gently gripped my chin and turned my head so that I was once again meeting his eyes.

"There´s no need for you to be embarrassed over something like that when you´re staying with us. We can´t seem to manage even one week without breaking something… and while we rarely get hurt while on the job, we have almost daily accidents in the apartment. So there´s no need for you to be embarrassed, you´re just like us." Hidan explained to me in a low voice while carefully unwrapping the towel to take a look at my hand.

I remained silent and only winced once when he prodded the wounds in my hand. I was thinking about what he told me and the meaning of it and barely even noticed that he led me to the bathroom to rinse my hand under some water. When the cold water hit my hand I flinched a little and focused on the present only long enough to take notice of that Hidan was taking care of my injured hand before going back into my own mind to think some more.

He had told me that I was just like them.

But was I really? They seemed so in control of everything while I felt like I had had no control whatsoever since the first incident with the note in my bag the night it was announced that Orochimaru had been released from prison.

They were both capable of keeping themselves safe as well as people around them while I couldn´t even keep myself out of trouble. I really wished that I was more like them, but would I be able to change?

"There, as good as new." Hidan announced and I looked down to see my hand wrapped securely in gauze.

"Thank you." I told him honestly and followed him as he returned to my door, clearly intent on going back to his room now and get some more sleep.

"It´s no trouble, but next time try punching a pillow instead. They can´t hurt you back." He gave me a crooked smile and a quick hug before he disappeared, wishing me good night as he went.

I closed the door slowly, surprised by the hug but loving the feel of it. I glanced at the shards of the mirror that was still on the floor but decided to clean that up in the morning instead. Right now I wanted to curl up underneath my covers and think some more about the slight bonding session I had just had with Hidan.

* * *

The next morning came without further incidents and as I promised myself last night, the first thing I did was cleaning up the broken glass. After that I took a shower and dressed in black leggings, a short black denim skirt and a green long-sleeved shirt.

I went to the kitchen to grab some breakfast and there I met Konan and Pein.

"Good morning Konan, Pein. Where are the others?" I asked them since the apartment was unusually quiet for this time of the day.

"I sent Itachi and Kisame to get some more clothes and things for you, it was a punishment for Kisame but I believe they will do fine. Kisame had changed the contents of my shampoo bottles and I figured that buying clothes would be a proper punishment, don´t worry, I didn´t ask them to buy underwear." Konan told me with a gentle smile and I turned towards Pein to get to know the whereabouts of the other four.

"Sasori and Deidara are still working on the bomb that went off in your apartment and Hidan and Kakuzu are out on the streets trying to find out how they knew that you were at the bank." Pein answered with a serious expression on his face and a hint of worry in his grey eyes.

I gave him a smile, trying to reassure him that I was alright but since Hidan most likely had told them about my angry outbreak during the night, they would find it hard to believe.

I quickly ate my breakfast before returning to my room to read even further in the notebook that held my father's thoughts and ideas.

* * *

_I have finally found out what my ex-wife is planning, and know I wish I didn´t know…_

_She and Orochimaru have gotten engaged but did she do it because she loves him or to make herself even more money?_

_I have found out that the entire time we were married; she had an account hidden from me. An account with a rather large sum of money, and the amount has only increased after our divorce._

_I have researched her past as much as I was able to and what I found is a past of lies and deceit._

_She has another child._

_When she was sixteen, she gave birth to a boy who she immediately put in an orphanage, wanting nothing to do with the boy. The only thing she was after was the money given to her by the father to keep his name off the child´s papers._

_The child´s name was Yahiko._

_Four years later, at the age of twenty, she had yet another child._

_She was given another large amount of money from the father but this time her own mother, Chiyo, took care of the child and broke all contact with her daughter, she died from a heart attack when the boy was seventeen. The boy was named Sasori._

_A few years later she and I met and after only two years of dating she was expecting Sakura. She never gave any signs of not wanting her, but how could she leave us just like that unless Sakura meant nothing to her? Did she only have her to make me happy so that I would allow her to buy expensive clothes and jewelry?_

_No matter what Mebuki thought about Sakura, I will always love her with everything that I am and everything that´s in my heart._

_And while she might´ve divorced me to get to my money, she won´t get nearly as much as I knew she wanted. And that´s because I put most of it in an account for Sakura, should something, (god forbid), happen to me._

_If Mebuki wants my money, it will be after Sakura´s death unless she has children of her own. And not even a woman like Mebuki would be able to kill her own daughter just for money._

_At least, that's what I hope…_

* * *

The notebook fell from my hands after I noted the date of the entry written. It was dated the day before my father´s murder.

How could the woman described in the notebook be the same woman that played with me when I was little, told me about the mysteries of being a woman, calmed me when I had nightmares and taught me how to cook, bake and clean?

On one side, I couldn´t believe that it was true; on the other side it made perfect sense.

It would explain the attempts on my life and it would explain the Sound gang involvement. If she and Orochimaru were trying to kill me to get to the money, they would most likely use the gang to keep suspicions away from the woman formerly known as my mother.

Then realization hit me, her other two children were named Yahiko and Sasori, could it be the Yahiko and Sasori who were both members of this very organization?

Could it be that I had found two half-brothers when I taught I had no family at all with Sasuke and Naruto in Japan?

I didn´t know, everything spun around in my head in a wild vortex out of control and I couldn´t think anymore. I needed to find reassurance, to find someone to tell me what was true and what was not.

I picked up the notebook again and then left my room in a daze, walking blindly through the apartment in search for Pein or Konan or anyone really. I felt lost and didn´t know if I wanted to be angry at my mother or sad that she was the one wanting to kill me.

I bumped into something hard and warm and looked up to see Peins concerned gaze locked on me, he had apparently seen me coming and stopped while I hadn´t even noticed that there was something in my way.

"Sakura are you alright? Did something happen?" He asked and while I didn't answer him, I handed him the notebook and watched him as he read the same entries as I had.

"Oh dear good what a mess… Is it alright if I make copies of this and hand them out to the other members?" He asked and when I nodded he pushed the small notebook into his back pocket and pulled me in for a hug.

"We´ll work this out Sakura, I promise. No matter if it is our mother trying to kill you or not." He assured me and since he admitted to be the boy mentioned in the notebook, it meant he accepted me as his half-sister, and I allowed myself to cling to him while tears streamed down my face.

When my tears finally dried up, I felt empty and I still didn´t know what to do next. But Pein took my hand and led me to the kitchen where he pushed me down to sit on one of the chairs while he started making some hot chocolate for us.

Soon he put a mug of steaming hot cocoa in my hand and a little of warmth and resolve was transferred from the lovingly made cocoa into me as I slowly sipped it.

I wasn´t going to let this take me down when nothing else had.

So when I had finished the cocoa I put away the now empty cup and returned to my seat in front of Pein.

"What do we do now?" I asked him tiredly but with my spirit back.

"We fight back." He told me simply, with a determined look in his eyes and smile on his lips.

* * *

When the others returned for the night, Pein took Konan aside and told her about the discoveries we had made during the day. I could see her eyes widen even from across the room and then her eyes locked on me as she nodded to something Pein told her.

He handed her what I recognized as the copies of my father´s notebook before gesturing to Sasori to come with him. I knew what he was going to do so I followed them.

We went into the office and closed the door behind us, I could see that Sasori was curious as to why he was here but also a little worried, probably wondering if he had done something wrong.

"Take a seat Sasori, I have something to tell you and it might take a while to get all the question marks straightened out." Pein told him seriously but Sasori responded that he preferred to remain standing.

As Pein told Sasori about our discoveries, also letting him know that all three of us were half-siblings, I was watching him closely, searching his eyes and face for any reaction given. And while he kept his face in the same calm mask during the entire time, his eyes gave his true feelings away.

"So what you´re telling me is that all three of us share the same mother, who had the two of us only for money, and that she is the reason the Sound gang wants Sakura dead? All because of money?"

"Yes." Pein answered plainly and Sasori sighed and said.

"What a mess…" He then turned towards me and asked me. "How are you feeling about all this Sakura? You´re the only one that can actually call her mother…"

"That woman is not my mother. A real mother would never want her child dead just for money." I told him before answering his real question. "I´m not sure what I feel… I´m angry, I´m sad and I´m confused. I´m sort of happy to know the reason someone tries to kill me though… And I´m also happy to know that the two of you are my half-brothers." I explained, slowly and thoughtfully but with truth.

"I guess I can relate to that…" Sasori admitted with a small smile.

There wasn´t much left to say after that so we exited the office and joined the others in the kitchen for dinner. During the entire meal I could feel their eyes on me though and it was driving me insane.

So as soon as I was able to without being rude, I excused myself and went back to my own room, hoping that someone had picked up on my uneasiness and would tell the others to not act like I was going to break any given second.

Back in my room I picked out a pajama and locked myself in the bathroom to try and calm myself down enough to go to sleep. I turned on the shower and slowly shed my clothes as a fine mist made the small room seem like something out of a dream.

I stepped under the hot spray of water and sighed in content as the stress was eased from my muscles by the water cascading down on my shoulders. Even though I hadn´t really done anything, my body felt tired and I briefly wondered if I was coming down with a cold.

After finishing my shower I dried myself off and pulled on my pajamas, a pair of dark navy pants with a lighter blue t-shirt with a picture of a penguin in the middle of the front. After drying my hair I exited the bathroom and to my surprise found Sasori sitting on my bed.

I would have expected it to be Itachi.

As if he knew what I was thinking, the first thing he said was.

"Itachi were on his way over here after dinner but I asked him to allow me to give it a try. I can go and get him if you´d rather talk to him but he, Pein, Konan and I could all see that something was bothering you during dinner."

"It´s fine, I don´t mind talking to you." I assured him. "It´s nothing really… I just didn´t like that everybody was looking at me like I was going to break at any possible second, it makes me uneasy…" I said before sneezing and rubbing one of my eyes tiredly, I was feeling even worse now and my head was starting to ache.

Sasori frowned before placing the back of his hand against my forehead, checking me for a fever.

"You´re burning up Sakura… Get into bed while I go get some fever reducing medicine for you." He ordered me and I obliged without a fuss, not feeling well enough to argue with him.

To be able to relax against the soft mattress and the silk sheets was heaven for my tired body, but the coolness from the sheets seeped into my body and suddenly I was shivering with cold.

When Sasori returned he gave me the medicine and then fetched another blanket to spread out on top of me, but even then I was still shivering. As the first hour passed and then the second, Sasori grew more and more worried.

My fever didn´t go down much but it didn´t go higher either, keeping me in the situation where I was cold and feeling like shit…

"We can´t keep doing this for the rest of the night Sakura, you need to sleep…" Sasori said when I was once again shivering with cold. I could see that Sasori's warm brown eyes were dark with worry and then he left the room, telling me that he would be back soon. While I was alone in the room, something strange happened.

My father appeared.

Oh I knew that my father was dead, and a part of me was convinced that I only saw him because of the high fever, but the other part of me was hoping he had appeared to lead me onto the right road since I felt so lost…

He smiled at me and a single tear fell from his eye but just as he was about to open his mouth and speak, Sasori returned and he had a sleepy looking Deidara with him. The instant the door opened, my father disappeared and I felt tears of disappointment gather in my bleary eyes.

I wanted my father back.

I started crying, helpless sobs escaping me and tears falling freely despite my attempts to stop them. Deidara froze and was looking at me with wide blue eyes, suddenly fully awake. And while Deidara was unmoving, Sasori was instantly at my side, asking me what was wrong.

I couldn´t answer him because of the sobs that wouldn´t stop coming and he seemed to get that because he wrapped his arms around me in a comforting hug and laid down on the bed with me. He pulled the covers over us and then said to Deidara.

"Come on Deidara, she is cold and sick, she needs to sleep but she won't be able to unless she is warm."

That got Deidara moving and he joined us underneath the covers on my other side, so that I was sandwiched in between them. The heat from their bodies slowly seeped over to mine and eventually my shivering died down as well as the sobs.

I was in a place halfway between sleep and awareness when I heard Sasori and Deidara talking to each other.

"Hey Sasori?"

"What brat? I´m trying to sleep."

"Won´t Sakura be mad at us in the morning for sleeping in her bed with her, yeah?" Deidara asked concerned.

"I highly doubt that. Itachi said that she didn´t mind sharing her bed with him and Kisame, apparently she used to share a bed with Sasuke and Naruto as well." Sasori explained in a quiet voice.

"Oh…" Was Deidaras intelligent answer and I felt him shift beside me, putting a little distance between us. The distance made cold seep in once again and I whined, pulling at his shirt to make him come back.

"Stay close to her Deidara, or she will get cold again." Sasori mumbled and tightened his own hold on me. Deidara moved back and when he once again was pressed against my side, I sighed contently and let sleep overtake me.

* * *

So tell me what you think...

**Question: which pair from the Akatsuki would you rather sleep in between?**

I would answer Deidara and Sasori because While I Love Kisame, sleeping in between him and Itachi sounds like it would be a tight fit. Sleeping with only Kisame would be a dream though... I also love Hidan but since he and Kakuzu can´t stop fighting I wouldn´t get much sleep.

Love C


	5. Chapter 5 - Sickness and an intruder

I do not own Naruto

* * *

**My life on the line**

_Chapter Five – Sickness and an intruder_

* * *

When I woke up the next morning I still felt like shit. My head was aching, my throat was sore, my body was tired and I still felt cold. It was close to 1 pm in the afternoon and despite that I was still sleepy.

I had faint and fuzzy memories of sharing the bed with Sasori and Deidara but now I was alone in it, I wasn´t alone in the room though. Itachi was sitting in a chair, reading a book as usual but he put it away when he saw that I was awake.

"How are you feeling? Sasori said that you had a fever last night?" He asked me and moved from his seat in the chair to take a new seat on the bed next to me.

I only groaned and hid underneath my covers.

"That bad huh?" Itachi said with sympathy in his voice and proceeded to pull down my covers to put his hand on my forehead. His hand was cold against my feverish skin and I saw him frown when he realized that I was still running a fever.

"You still have a fever… I´ll go and get some more medicine for you and some water, do you want anything else?" He asked me and when I shook my head no he left the room.

I allowed my eyes to fall shut and had almost fallen back asleep when Itachi returned with the medicine and the water. I swallowed the pill and after a few tiny gulps of water I laid back down against the pillows and closed my eyes again. But when Itachi's weight disappeared from the mattress my eyes snapped open again and my hand found a grip around one of his wrists.

"Please don´t go… I don´t want to be alone…" I knew I must´ve looked pathetic, begging him like that but I really didn´t want to be left alone right now. But he only laid down beside me and wrapped one arm around my middle, pulling my body closer to his.

"Then I won´t leave you." Itachi whispered in my ear and it didn´t take long for me to fall asleep, soothed by his calm breathing.

* * *

A few more days passed by in the much same manner. I was awake for short periods and managed to eat and drink a little during those times. I was never alone; there was always someone with me. I believe that most of Akatsuki´s members took turns but the ones I saw the most was Konan, Pein, Itachi and Sasori.

But after three days in bed I was feeling better and I had decided to get out of my room at least for a little while today. I was sitting on the edge of my bed and had my sights set on the bathroom door, I wanted a shower.

I stood up slowly and managed to get over to the door before I had to stop and put my head between my knees to keep from fainting. And that´s how Pein found me a little while later.

"What are you doing Sakura; you should be in bed…" He said and supported me with an arm around my waist. I shook my head no and said stubbornly.

"No, I´m tired of this room. I´m having a shower and then I´m going to the living room."

"You´re still sick Sakura, do you really have the energy to shower on your own?" Pein questioned and since I knew that it was only him and I in the apartment once again, I answered.

"I´ll manage." Pein only shook his head at my stubbornness and said.

"Fine, but I´m staying right here in case something goes wrong."

And with that he took a seat on my bed and simply watched me as I gathered clean clothes and shutting myself in the bathroom. I got the water going and slowly shed my clothes, holding onto the sink for support. I stepped underneath the spray of water and almost moaned at the blissful feeling of warm water flowing over my skin.

I had to stop a few times and put my head between my knees but I did manage to wash both my hair and my body without any serious incidents, and the feeling of being clean that came afterwards was worth all the trouble I went through to get it.

I dressed myself in a pair of black pajama pants, a simple grey t-shirt with the outline of a duck on it and a navy blue hoodie that used to belong to Sasuke. I exited the room and when leaving the hot and humid bathroom for the colder bedroom, my vision spun once again and I had to support myself against the wall to keep myself standing.

"Sakura? Are you okay?" Pein asked worriedly and in the next moment I found him next to me, supporting me as well.

"Yeah I´m fine…" I told him and straightened up as the room came to a stop. The look he gave me told me that he clearly didn´t believe me but I ignored him and sat down on the bed to pull on a pair of socks before standing up once again and slowly walking towards the door that would give me my escape from the room that I had been a prisoner in for the last few days.

I did get myself to the living room by my own power but when I sat down in the couch all of my energy was spent. I pulled a blanket over myself and allowed Pein to start a movie for me. He then fetched me a glass of apple juice, a small bowl of chocolate ice cream and another blanket that he spread out on top of me.

He then took a seat in the couch by my feet and started reading through a bunch of papers as I ate my ice cream and watched the movie. I was thankful for his company and after a little while realized that I was glancing more at the papers he was reading than at the TV screen.

"What are you reading?" I asked him when I could hold back my curiosity any longer.

"Reports from the teams, information about the bomb in your apartment, the car that followed you during the shootings and possible locations for our mother and Orochimaru." Pein answered absentmindedly and handed me some of the ones he had already read.

As I read through the papers he had handed me I noticed a few things that Pein hadn´t mentioned. That the bomb in my apartment was manufactured from things not easily found and that the locations where my mother had been seen seemed to always be close to luxurious stores and boutiques.

"Whoever made the bomb must have been a professional… Most of these components are hard to get and very unstable, does the Sound gang have anyone that is good with explosives or have they hired someone for this?"

Pein looked over the papers again and said.

"Damn how did I miss this? Good job Sakura. I don´t think that Sound have an explosives expert but I´ll get Deidara to check for sure." He got up from the couch and disappeared in the direction of his office while I was left sitting on the couch with the remaining papers.

Since I had gotten bored with the movie I went through the rest of the papers as well, writing down my thoughts and ideas in the margins for Pein to read later.

All the reading and thinking had made my headache come back, so I left my comfy nest on the couch to try and find some pain pills. I knew that they were kept in the kitchen but I had no idea where they could be. I started opening all the different cabinet doors but the pain pills where nowhere to be seen.

"Dammit where are they…" I muttered after searching yet another cabinet without any success.

"What are you looking for?" A dark voice asked from behind me. I spun around and came face to chest with Kakuzu, his almost glowing red and green eyes focused on me.

"Pain pills… I have a headache." I told him quietly. I had had almost no interactions with the large man and therefore he seemed a little intimidating to me in my weakened state.

He opened a cupboard I had yet to search through and pulled out the small box, handing it to me without words.

"Thank you." I told him before swallowing two pills with some water before returning to my spot on the couch. He followed me silently and just like Pein had earlier, took a seat on the couch by my feet.

I did my best to concentrate on the movie that was still playing but found that my gaze time and time again was drawn to the man sitting beside me, reading through the papers that had been left behind by Pein.

"Who made these notes?" He asked me after a while, looking intently at the papers as if they held the key to something important.

"I did…" I said hesitantly. "Do you think my ideas are bad?" I was anxiously awaiting his answer when a wave of cold sweat and nausea overcame me, and I had to bolt for the bathroom. I made it just in time to empty the small contents of my stomach in the toilet and while I noticed that I wasn´t alone, I paid it no mind.

When the nausea died down again I sat back and leaned against the wall, trying to regain my breath. Throwing up had taken a lot out of my still sick body and my energy level was almost gone again.

"Are you alright Sakura? Do you want me to go and get Pein?" Kakuzu asked from beside me and I suddenly noticed that he was looking at me with worried eyes.

"I´m fine… Please don´t bother Pein with this." I asked him and tried to stand up again. It went slowly and Kakuzu had to help me a little but I got up again and began to slowly walk back towards my own bedroom, I needed to brush my teeth.

I walked slowly, with one hand pressed firmly against the wall for support but I still had stop and rest every now and then. Kakuzu was following me but didn´t attempt to help me. perhaps he was scared of being infected with whatever was making me sick, perhaps he found me disgusting because I had thrown up, or perhaps he simply understood my need for independence and would only step in and help me if we reached the point where I couldn´t walk any longer.

I reached my room and I even managed to brush my teeth by myself but when I exited the bathroom, my knees gave in and Kakuzu had to catch me to prevent me from hitting the floor.

"Careful there Sakura." He told me before lifting me off the ground and carried me back to the couch in the living room.

"Sorry for being a bother… But how did you know that I wanted to come back here?" I asked him as I once again made myself comfortable on the couch.

"It´s no bother, everyone gets sick every once in a while. You can´t help it. I just figured that you must be sick of seeing those four walls by now…" He answered and I smiled at him in thanks. I shifted on the couch until I was lying down with my head in his lap allowing me to draw comfort from the closeness to another person.

I soon fell asleep with the movie still playing and Kakuzu reading more of the papers that Pein had left behind.

* * *

Another few days passed by with me spending them on the couch in the company of the different members. I was slowly getting better and I was bored out of my mind since I wasn´t allowed to go out.

I was once again sitting on the couch in the living room, this time with Deidara and we were watching a documentary on the TV that had almost lulled me to sleep when Deidara took a look at the clock and stood from his seat with the words.

"Sorry Sakura but I´ve got to go, yeah. I promised Pein that I would assemble the list of possible explosive experts that Sound might have used when rigging your apartment."

I looked up at him with pleading eyes and asked him.

"Can I come? Please? I´m going crazy since no one allows me to do anything…" He hesitated but I used my puppy dog eyes on him, making his gaze soften and he sighed before saying.

"Yeah I guess you can come… I have everything in my room anyway so it´s not like we´ll be far, yeah. You might get bored though…"

"I´m bored sitting here, it´s not like it will get any worse…" I answered and allowed him to help me up from the couch. We walked side by side to his room and then I took a seat in the middle of his bed while he took a seat at the desk.

He immediately started working and I curled up on his bed preparing myself for taking a nap until he was done with his work. The quiet sounds of the pen against the paper and Deidara´s rhythmic breathing had soon lulled me to sleep.

* * *

When I woke up again, the world was in chaos.

A sharp noise was hurting my ears and Deidara was frantically locking things away in a safe in his closet while at the same time putting a gun in a thigh holster and strapping it on.

He told me that the sound was an alarm made to alert them to intruders in the building and that there was no need for me to be worried since it was very unlikely that someone would be able to make it into the apartment.

Deidara and the others were preparing to go through the building, searching for the intruder but they all agreed that I should stay in the apartment. Partly because I was still not completely well and partly because I wasn´t a part of their organization.

The others left and I was alone in the apartment, I decided to stay in Deidara´s room since I felt safer there. I had a bad feeling about this incident and wanted to be prepared just in case something went wrong, so I pulled the gun from behind the bed and instead held it steadily in my hand.

For a while everything was silent, but then a small thud sounded somewhere in the apartment, alarming me. I quickly moved to the side of the door so that I wasn´t a sitting target in case it wasn´t one of the members coming back to check on me.

It felt as if time stood still, the only thing sounding in the room was my own uneven breathing and my pulse resonating in my ears. My adrenaline levels were way above normal and that alone kept fear from shining through my calm demeanor.

My eyes were glued to the door and when the handle slowly turned, my body tensed and I unconsciously prepared myself for battle. Then the door was slammed open and a figure clad completely in black entered the room, looking around and obviously searching for something or someone.

On instinct I raised Deidara´s weapon and fired it at the intruder, aiming for the knees and shoulders. The first two shots missed but the third one hit his shoulder, making him turn towards me.

That´s when I saw the gun in his hand.

Before I had time to think, more shots were fired, both from his weapon and from the one in my hand. I was running high on adrenaline and at first I didn´t even notice that the intruder had fallen to the floor while I remained standing.

When my mind had time to process what had happened, I dropped the gun and begun checking myself for eventual injuries. By some miracle or another, I was left unharmed while the intruder wasn´t even breathing.

When I realized that I had killed another person, I panicked.

I backed away from the scene and when I saw that there were several bullet holes in wall, only inches from where I had been standing, I turned on my heel and locked myself in Deidara´s bathroom, waiting for someone to come and find me, to make everything alright again.

* * *

I didn´t have to wait long for the others to come back. I heard it clearly when Deidara entered his room and found the intruder that I had killed. There was shouting and yelling and a lot of footsteps moving around in the apartment, it wasn´t until later that I realized that they were searching for me.

I sat on the bathroom floor with my arms locked protectively around my body. I was shaking but not crying and had my eyes glued to the door. When a knock sounded from the door I flinched away and almost panicked until I recognized Deidara´s voice from the other side.

"Sakura are you in there?! Are you alright?!" He sounded almost scared but when I tried to answer him my voice refused to obey me. I felt my throat constrict with held back sobs and tears started falling from my eyes.

I heard Deidara yell that he was going to break down the door and then a large weight hit the door. After only a few tries, the wood cracked and the door broke down, allowing him entrance to the bathroom.

He took one look at my pathetic form covering on the floor before he knelt down in front of me. His arms came around me and pulled me against his chest, trying to give me comfort as he asked.

"Are you hurt? What happened?"

"I´m not hurt… I heard a noise… So I grabbed your gun and… And I killed him…" I mumbled into his shoulder while my hands found a grip in his shirt, refusing to let go. His grip on me tightened and he whispered.

"I´m so sorry Sakura… I should´ve stayed with you, protected you from that… I failed you…"

I wasn´t in a condition were I could answer him right now but his words was etched into my mind, the tone of his voice making me cry a little harder.

He hadn´t failed me… I don´t think he could ever fail me…

I felt the floor disappear from underneath me and instead I felt one of Deidara´s arms underneath my thighs, holding me up while the other kept its hold across my back. He carried me like he would have carried a small child, and the comfort the closeness to him gave me was greater than any words could have managed.

We met the others in the kitchen and while I could hear them move and talk around me, I couldn´t make myself look at them right now. Instead I hid my face against the side of Deidara´s neck and subconsciously tightened my hold on Deidara to avoid being pulled away from him.

When he realized that I didn´t intend to let go of him anytime soon, he took a seat in one of the kitchen chairs as Konan, Pein, Itachi and Sasori fussed over me. Kakuzu and Hidan as well as Kisame wasn´t here, my best guess would be that they were in Deidara´s room, taking care of my mess and reporting the incident to the police.

I could hear them talk but couldn´t find the energy to listen to what they were saying. Instead I said to Deidara.

"Deidara… I´m tired…"

"Then sleep Sakura, everything will seem better when you wake up, I promise." He answered and I followed his advice, falling asleep in his lap with the others still talking around me.

* * *

The next time I opened my eyes, I was back in my own room but since I could still smell the scent of Deidara´s body wash, I knew that he was still with me. I glanced at the clock and saw that I had only been asleep for about an hour and a half but I still felt completely reenergized.

"How are you feeling, yeah?" Deidara asked from behind me and I turned around so that we were face to face before answering him.

"Better I guess… I´m still upset that I had to kill another person but I´ll be alright… Will I get in trouble because of this?"

"No, it will be written off as self-defense. There´s no need for you to worry about that, yeah. And remember, if you hadn´t killed him, he would have killed you." He said seriously and while I realized that what he said was true, it didn´t make me feel any better since I hadn´t aimed to kill him.

It was pure luck that it was he that went down first and not me.

"I know that… But I wasn´t aiming to kill him, it was pure luck that it was him and not me that ended up dead…" I whispered, half afraid that the facts would change if I spoke them out loud.

Deidara raised one of his hands to my face and cupped my cheek before locking his intense blue eyes with mine, telling me sincerely.

"But you didn´t die and I will do my very best to keep you from getting in that situation ever again." I could see in his eyes that he really meant what he said and it chased away the lingering fear.

"What´s going to happen now?" I asked him after a few minutes of silence.

"The police will come and take the body away; they are used to work with us so everything will go smoothly, yeah. I will get my room back tomorrow so I will have to stay on the couch tonight if you´re up for a movie night?"

"But you don´t have to sleep on the couch, you can sleep here with me, I don´t mind…" I told him and sat up on the bed, pulling the blanket he had put over me higher.

"Are you sure, yeah? I don´t mind staying on the couch." Deidara said from his laid back position on my bed, shifting so that he had both of his hands behind his head.

"I wouldn´t have asked if I minded, you´ll stay here tonight since it is technically my fault that you can´t sleep in your own bed." I told him in a voice that left no room for arguments.

I turned my head so that I could look at him, he looked so comfortable and carefree with his eyes closed and his hair free from any containments. He must´ve felt my eyes on him because he opened his own eyes and focused them on me, and I asked him.

"Where are all the others?" Deidara closed his eyes again before answering me.

"Pein and Konan are in a meeting with the security personnel, Itachi and Kisame are checking the surrounding buildings with Hidan and Kakuzu and Sasori are probably in his room worrying about you, yeah."

I got off the bed and started walking towards the door when Deidara asked me where I was going. I told him that I was only going to talk to Sasori for a little while and that I was coming back soon.

I walked through the apartment on silent feet and soon I was standing outside Sasori's door. I was about to knock when I noticed that the door was slightly ajar and instead I pushed it open a little more before sticking my head inside, looking for Sasori.

He was sitting at his desk, working on something that looked to be a super modern security system. He turned around in his seat when he heard me and I entered the room fully.

"What are you working on?" I asked him quietly and sat down on the edge of his bed. I felt his eyes follow my movements as I moved through the room and he answered.

"I´m updating the security system of the apartment, making sure that something like this can´t happen again. This is supposed to be a secure apartment but clearly it's not secure enough."

"Oh…" I responded awkwardly and shifted in my seat. There was a slightly uncomfortable silence between us before Sasori asked me.

"Are you going to be okay?" I heard the concern in his voice and smiled a little at the older brother-protectiveness that seeped through his otherwise calm and collected demeanor.

"Yeah, I´ll be fine… With some time…" We chatted a little more before I stood up, saying that I needed to go back to my own room and Deidara.

I didn´t see the curious look he shot me as I left his room.

Before going back to my room I fetched a few sandwiches from the kitchen as well as two bottles of water for us. It was getting rather late and I didn´t think that anyone would bother to cook dinner tonight.

When I returned to my room I found Deidara in much the same position as he had been in when I had left. He was still on his back on my bed with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. He opened one eye when I entered and I felt it follow me as I put the food down on the desk.

"I was thinking about taking a shower, you don´t mind do you?" I said with the slightest hint of hesitation.

"Of course not, it´s still your room, do whatever you usually do, yeah." He answered before taking a bite off one of the sandwiches. With the hesitation gone I collected some clean pajamas and locked myself in my bathroom.

I turned the water on and set the temperature on hot, I then looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like I always did, yet there was something different about me. The look in my eyes was a more serious one and my face was a little paler than usual.

But that wasn´t it.

Perhaps it was the close encounter with death that made me feel different… Or perhaps it was the newly made murderer in me.

I turned away from the mirror, not wanting to look at myself anymore and shed my clothes before standing underneath the hot spray of water.

About half an hour later I emerged smelling faintly of coconut and pineapple thanks to my new body wash and dressed in pale pink pajama pants and a simple white t-shirt with a bird on the front.

I found my room without Deidara in it and figured that he had gone to talk to Sasori or Pein and didn´t let it bother me too much. Instead I ate half a sandwich and drank a little water before I tucked myself into bed again. Despite the energy I had felt earlier I was tired again and longed for more sleep.

A little while later I felt Deidara lay down on the bed and I was barely awakened enough to turn around and curl up close to his body, hiding my face against his neck so that I was able to smell the scent that was purely him. I was then pulled back down in the darkness by sleep, dreaming of things I´d rather left forgotten.

* * *

_I was once again searching through the house for my father, and once again I found him in his office, in pieces and with blood everywhere._

_But something was different._

_From a dark corner of the room, my mother appeared. She was only a little taller than me and her piercing blue eyes were locked onto me, her deep red hair accented nicely by the elegant black dress she wore._

_The heels of her black stiletto´s made clicking sounds against the floor as she walked over to where I was standing. She stopped a few feet away from me and spoke in a voice that was very much her own, yet much more evil and calculating than I remembered._

_"You will give me the money that is rightfully mine, either voluntarily or by force. See you soon Sakura…"_

_And then she turned on her heels and walked back into the corner she had come from before disappearing completely._

* * *

I bolted upright in bed and startled Deidara awake just in time for him to witness my breakdown. Tears poured uncontrollably from my eyes and I was gasping for breath, desperately trying to pull some oxygen into my starving lungs.

Deidara´s muscled arms wrapped around me from behind and pulled me against his bare chest that was equally muscled, he grabbed my wrists and held my hands in my lap to keep them from clawing myself bloody.

The sound of soothing words coming from his mouth and the feeling of his chest rising and sinking with every breath had soon calmed me down though and then I had to go through the embarrassing explaining before he allowed me to lie back down on the bed.

It was when I was once again curled up next to Deidara´s warm body that I remembered what he had said earlier. That he had failed me.

"You didn´t fail me Deidara." I said suddenly and I could hear confusion in his voice when he answered.

"Huh? What do you mean, yeah?"

"You said earlier that you had failed me." I explained. "And now I´m telling you that you were wrong, you didn´t fail me."

"I didn´t protect you either."

"I can´t always be protected, the others wasn´t there either so what makes you the one that failed me? You are here for me now and that´s enough for me."

He didn´t answer that so I hoped that he really thought about it, I didn´t want him to feel like he had failed me when I didn´t feel that. Right before I fell back asleep I realized something though…

And that was that I was falling in love with Deidara…

* * *

Soo... What do you think? I´m updating way earlier than I had planned just because I have gotten addicted to your lovely reviews!

**Question: If you were locked in a bathroom because something bad had happened, who would you want to break down the door to get to you?**

For me the answer would be Hidan without a doubt. I believe that the sight of him breaking down the door for me would be able to make me forget whatever bad thing had happened. ;P

Love C


	6. Chapter 6 - Progress and the first kiss

I do not own Naruto

* * *

**My life on the line**

_Chapter Six – Progress and the first Kiss_

* * *

About a week after the accident where I had to kill another human I was mostly back to normal, having been successful in putting the incident behind me.

I had started training with the members of the Akatsuki, eager to learn everything they had to teach me so that I would be able to defend myself properly. But they didn´t only teach me self-defense, no they taught me everything they knew and I was starting to wonder if it was a hint that they wanted me to join their organization.

Right now I was joining Itachi and Kisame to go and check out a location that was rumored to be the place where my mother currently lived. I was dressed in black cargo pants and a black tank top, I was wearing a Kevlar vest on top of that and covered it by wearing a flannel shirt that belonged to Pein on top of that and the flannel shirt was dark blue, black and grey.

I wasn´t sure how I felt about eventually meeting my mother, on one hand I was beginning to hate her and didn´t ever want to see her again. On the other hand I was hoping for an explanation that was something other than killing me just because of the money.

I would actually feel better it they wanted me dead because I had information they wanted or something…

Either way there was no point thinking about that now, I was already strapped into the backseat of a black ford explorer with Kisame and Itachi in the front and we were almost at our intended destination.

I was looking out the window, searching for something that could mean danger to me and the two boys in the front seat when Itachi turned around in his seat and held out a gun in my direction.

"Deidara said you know how to handle this, I´ve gotten you all the papers you need to be allowed to carry it as well so there should be no problems." I took the gun from his hand and recognized it as the one that Deidara used to keep behind the headboard of his bed.

"I do know how to handle this." I answered him before checking that the safety was on before pushing it inside the waistband of my pants, allowing the weapon to come to a rest against my hip.

I saw Itachi and Kisame just look at me with surprise, clearly they hadn´t expected me to be that comfortable with the gun.

"I took shooting lessons as well as self-defense lessons after my father´s murder. I was having some trouble with paranoia back then but the lessons were really fun and informative."

Kisame nodded once and turned his attention back on the road while Itachi remained turned in his seat, facing me.

"What do you mean you had trouble with paranoia? In what way?" I shrugged a little and answered lightly.

"I used to feel like someone was watching me. But I was living with Naruto and Sasuke then so it was probably just them or my imagination running wild."

"I´m not so sure about that… From what I have been able to tell you have very accurate senses. Did you tell anyone that you were feeling like you were being watched?" I frowned a little, thinking back a few years before answering him slowly.

"No I didn´t tell anyone. Do you think that there actually was someone watching me back then?"

He nodded slowly and said that he would look into it when we returned to see if he could find any proof for it. So for now we let it go and went back to search the area we drove through for dangers or other disturbances.

Kisame parked the car outside a fancy looking apartment building another five minutes away and we got out of the car. We entered the foyer and took a look at the nameplates of the ones living in the building.

We had a list of names on sound gang members that we compared to the nameplates in case they were using someone else´s name on the lease. No names from our list matched and there was no Orochimaru or Mebuki either, nor was my own last name.

I did saw something disturbing though.

On one of the nameplates was the name that I had kept my safety deposit box under, and I didn´t lease an apartment here.

I showed it to the boys and after a quick discussion we decided to go up to the apartment. It could belong to someone completely innocent and in that case we would apologize and be on our way, but it could also belong to Orochimaru and my mother and that was an opportunity we couldn´t miss.

We choose to take the stairs instead of the elevator despite that the apartment was on the twelfth floor. If this was a trap we would be too exposed during the elevator ride.

When we finally reached the floor that was our destination I was barely out of breath, once again surprising Itachi and Kisame.

"How come you aren´t tired after walking twelve sets of stairs? How many surprises are we going to get from you today Sakura?" Kisame asked me with a slightly stunned look on his face.

"Before all this mess appeared I used to run five miles every morning and every night. I haven´t been able to go for a good run since Orochimaru was released but I still have the leg muscles and the fitness from it. I really miss running…"

I trailed off when we approached the door to the apartment marked with my alias and since I kept my eyes on the door, I didn´t see the look that Itachi and Kisame shared before Kisame stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Itachi and I were standing a little behind Kisame, Itachi keeping me a little behind him so that I was protected by his body. Just in case someone (read Orochimaru or my mother) opened the door with a gun in hand.

But there was no one opening the door and instead Itachi kneeled in front of the door picking the lock and giving us entrance. After the lock clicked open Itachi stepped back and allowed Kisame to enter the apartment first.

The door opened without a problem and no alarms sounded so I figured that we were good to go when Kisame didn´t come running back out the open door.

"It´s empty!" Kisame yelled back at us. "I would say that whoever lived here left in a hurry because there are a lot of things left behind."

That both excited me and worried me. If they had left because they knew we were coming, the sources that Kakuzu and Hidan had gotten the information from were no longer reliable. It also wasn´t very good if they knew that we were searching for them, that decreased our chances of actually finding them rather drastically. But since there were a lot of things left behind, we also had rather good chances on finding something useful.

Itachi and I entered the apartment as well and Itachi closed the door behind us so that the others living in the building wouldn´t notice that something out of the ordinary was happening.

The apartment went mostly in white and while it gave it a very bright and spacey look, I didn´t like it. It didn´t feel homey at all, only sterile and stiff. But the rooms were large and had high ceilings so it was clear that it was a modern, high-quality apartment.

Itachi started searching through what used to be the office while Kisame started in the living room so I ventured further into the apartment and found the bedroom.

The room was chaotic, clothes everywhere and a lot of hiding places for something that could be of importance to us. So I went to work, piling all the clothes in an empty corner to try and find what else might hide in this room.

* * *

After a few hours of searching, I finally found something that might have been worth the trip here. I found a tiny USB memory that could contain photos or text documents with information we could use.

I put the USB in my pocket and made sure to zip it shut properly before leaving the room in search for Kisame and Itachi. I found both of them in the living room, still searching the large space when I heard a noise from the door we had entered through.

The sound of a key being inserted in a lock.

There wasn´t enough time for me to both alert the boys and hide myself from sight so with my heart up in my throat, I did the latter, hoping that Itachi and Kisame wouldn´t be shot on sight.

The front door was slammed open and five men dressed in sound gang colors and symbols entered the room. They were probably sent by Orochimaru or my mother to fetch the things that they had left behind, they hadn´t counted on us already being here though.

But since Itachi and Kisame wasn´t prepared, they were easily taken down, Kisame by having a pressure point lightly jabbed and Itachi by a devastating blow to the head.

I held back a wince and focused on keeping myself hidden instead of worrying over Itachi and Kisame, I couldn´t do anything to help them right now anyway. I quickly and quietly went back to the bedroom and hid myself behind the door; silently praying that the things I learned in the self-defense classes I used to take still was ingrained in my muscle memory.

When the door opened my entire body was tense and on guard but the two men entering the room wasn´t even looking around for me. With a little bit of luck they didn´t know I was here and if I was careful I might be able to take them all out silently without being discovered.

Since the two men immediately started going through the pile of clothes without even attempt to pack it in bags, I realized that they wasn´t here to bring back the stuff left behind. They were here for the small USB memory that was safely hidden away in my pocket.

I carefully stepped closer to them since they stood with their backs in my direction and with every step I felt my pulse speed up yet another notch. I was nervous as hell but too focused on the task ahead of me to let it take control and make me a blubbering mess.

When I was close enough I quickly jabbed the right pressure point on the one to my right before doing the same to the one on the left. To my surprise they went down without a sound and since they fell right into the pile of clothes there wasn´t even a thud when they hit the floor.

I hadn´t been sure that I was jabbing in the right spot but evidently my muscle memory was intact and I still held the skills given to me from the self-defense classes I took a few years back.

I quickly patted the two unconscious men down, searching them for weapons and sighing in relief when I found none. Hopefully that meant that the other three wasn´t armed either.

I left the room on quiet feet and peeked around the corners to try and find where the other three had gone when suddenly one of them was standing in front of me, yelling to the others that there was one left.

I acted instinctively and kicked him with my boot-clad foot right between the legs, making him fall to his knees and clutching his most prized possession. I then slammed my elbow down on the back of his head, effectively rendering him unconscious just in time for me to face the last two men.

They ran at me simultaneously and while I evaded the punch from the first one, the other one connected with my face harshly. I spat out the blood that collected in my mouth due to the split lip I received but didn´t let it stop me in the slightest. Instead I took advantage of their slight hesitation since they expected me to drop to the ground due to the hit he got in.

I spun my body into a sweeping kick that knocked both of them on their asses and immediately jumped at one of them, attempting to get in a hit on a pressure point before the other one got back onto his feet. Just as I got in a good hit on the one underneath me, another hard blow landed on my face, knocking me off the now unconscious body and onto the floor.

The room spun around me and white stars shone brightly in front of my eyes, clouding my vision and leaving me unprepared for the next attack that came at me. A series of kicks landed on my stomach and left side and the air was pushed from my lungs forcibly.

I managed to swipe out with my arm and grab his wrist as his foot came closer to my now aching body and with a powerful pull from me he was once again down on his ass and I struggled to get to my feet when suddenly the sound of a punch hitting its target reached my sensitive ears and I looked up with blurry eyes to see something big and blue standing protectively in front of me.

I blinked the blood out of my eyes and saw that it was Kisame who had woken up and taken over the fight that I was slowly losing. I supported myself with one hand against the wall and the other cradling my aching midsection as my eyes searched for Itachi while at the same time keeping an eye on Kisame in case it looked like he was losing.

I couldn´t see any signs of Itachi and concluded that he must still be unconscious then, turning all of my attention towards Kisame instead just in time to see him take down his opponent with a devastating kick to the guy's head.

He stood up straight before turning and focusing his golden gaze on me, frowning when he saw the condition I was in but asking me in a professional voice nonetheless.

"Where are the others?"

"Unconscious, I managed to take out three of them before these two showed up and things got difficult." I answered while trying to calm my breathing to make it easier on my hurting middle. Kisame shook his head with a smile and said.

"And you only keep surprising me… I´m impressed." I smiled at him and wiped some blood from the corner of my mouth. His eyes followed the movements of my hand and his eyes turned worried as he asked.

"Did they hurt you?" I gestured towards my bloody face and said.

"They split my lip and my eyebrow; it probably looks worse than it is but my middle took quite a beating and will probably be bruised. But nothing to serious I believe."

Kisame looked torn between believing me when I said that it was nothing serious and fussing over me like the mother hen I knew he really was. But he realized that for now at least, he had to believe me and gestured for me to follow him as he made his way back to where Itachi was still unconscious.

"Do you know what they were looking for?" He asked and I nodded slowly.

"I believe so. They didn´t pack any of the remaining things so I believe that they were searching for something in particular, namely a small USB memory that I found in the bedroom. I have it in my pocket right now." I told him and he hoisted Itachi's limp body over one of his massive shoulders and we headed for the door.

I went first and peeked into the hallway to make sure that there wasn´t any more sound gang members waiting for us. The coast was clear so we started heading down the same stairs we had gotten up on but when we reached the second to last stair before reaching the ground floor I heard someone talk in a cellphone and gestured for Kisame to stop.

I looked over the edge of the railing and saw a single Sound gang member standing directly below me, seemingly talking to his girlfriend over the phone instead of watching the stairs which was surely his job.

I whispered this to Kisame and saw his forehead furrow in concern; he was obviously worried about how we were going to get past him with Itachi still unconscious. I thought hard for a few seconds before an idea popped into my mind.

I could jump off the railing and land on top of him, surely knocking him unconscious in the process. Yes it would hurt and yes there could be more of them that we couldn´t see but what choice did we have?

Without missing a beat I told Kisame quickly about my plan and then I jumped over the railing before he had the time to complain or tell me that it was too dangerous. Like I didn´t know that already…

Air was rushing past me and the world around me moved way too fast. My stomach felt as if it was up in my throat but I pushed the feeling aside and concentrated on my intended target, making sure that he was still right below me.

I did not want to land directly on the marble floor of the elegant foyer.

But everything went as I had hoped and I landed on the shoulders of the man, knocking him to the ground and rendering him unconscious when his head hit the hard floor with a resonating smacking sound. I made sure to curl up in a ball, rolling off his body when he hit the ground so that I didn´t injured myself.

I was quickly back on my feet and scanned the foyer for more enemies, thankfully there was none and only seconds later Kisame was by my side, pulling me along as we ran for the car. We hurriedly strapped Itachi into the backseat before Kisame took his usual place behind the wheel and I took the spot Itachi usually sat in, the front passenger seat.

Kisame fired up the car and pulled away from the curb with screeching tires, he tossed me his phone and told me to call Pein and report that we were coming in with an unconscious Itachi. I called the number belonging to Pein and waited anxiously as the signals went through.

"Hello? Kisame?" Peins voice sounded in my ear and I had to swallow once before being able to create words.

"No it´s me, Sakura. We´re on our way back now but Itachi is unconscious, we were attacked. We got what they were looking for though…"

"Shit! Is it serious? Is anyone else hurt?"

"He was hit on the head really hard; I believe that he might have gotten a concussion but I´m not sure… Kisame is fine he was knocked out by a hit to a pressure point. I´ll have some bruises and a split lip and eyebrow but I´m fine too."

"We´ll get all three of you checked over, just get back safely." Pein said and ended the call. I relayed the information to Kisame who nodded in confirmation and concentrated on driving. Soon we pulled into the parking garage of our building.

All the others were down in the garage and waiting for us and when Kisame cut off the engine, the back door opened and Kakuzu and Konan moved Itachi to another car before taking off, probably taking him to the hospital to get checked over.

Pein and Sasori were crowded around me, fussing over my bloody face while Kisame talked to Hidan and Deidara. After a few minutes of arguing I had manage to convince Pein and Sasori that I was fully able to walk to the elevator myself but having to argue if I was allowed to walk on my own or not had made my anger rise and the first thing I did when we reached the apartment was locking myself in my bedroom and putting a chair underneath the handle so that they couldn´t come in even if they picked the lock.

I was feeling angry that they wanted to carry me just because I had been in a fight and a little sad that they thought so little of me, like I couldn´t handle a little bruising… I sighed tiredly and locked myself in the bathroom as well, my body was really starting to feel the pain and the tiredness from the fight and I wanted nothing more than a shower to get rid of the blood on my face and the sweat on my body.

I got the water started and shed my clothes, being careful with my aching middle. I wouldn´t have expected bruises to have formed already but they had and both my stomach and my side were covered in dark purple bruises that I realized would hurt like hell the next morning.

I moved my body underneath the spray from the shower and while the water stung in my eyebrow and lip, it felt really good on the rest of me. I could faintly hear banging on my bedroom door but ignored it completely, right now I was in the shower and they could take their overprotective babying somewhere else.

I remained in the shower for a good 45 minutes before shutting the water off and wrapping myself in a large towel. I took a look at my face in the mirror and grimaced, my split eyebrow would need some stitches to heal up nicely.

For now I put some surgical tape over it to hold it together until I could find someone who could stitch me up, I refuse to go to the hospital because of this. My split lip was swollen and an angry red but would heal up nicely in a few days' time, the bruises would take longer but would also heal up eventually.

I dried my hair and body and went back to my bedroom to find some clean clothes to wear. My door was still closed thanks to the chair I had put underneath the handle but I could see that it was unlocked. I knew that had they really wanted to get in they would have gotten in so it was nice to see that they decided to wait for me to come out instead of barging in on me while I was in the shower.

I dressed in clean underwear and a sports bra before pulling on a pair of baggy jeans and an oversized white tank top. After a look in the mirror I deemed myself decent enough and pulled the chair away from the door to go to the kitchen and grab something to eat, I was starving.

I was almost surprised to find the hallway outside my room empty; I had almost expected them to be waiting for me. The kitchen wasn´t empty though…

Kisame, Hidan, Deidara and Sasori were sitting at the table, eating left-overs and they all looked up when I entered the room. I asked Kisame where Pein was and when he answered that Pein had gone to the hospital as well I only nodded and started fixing my own plate of food that I put in the microwave to reheat.

Three minutes later when I took a seat at the table they still hadn´t said a word to me, but I could see them whisper to each other while looking at me. If I didn´t knew better I would say that they wanted to ask me something but was afraid to do so.

Eventually Hidan got the courage to open his mouth though.

"Are you really okay Sakura? You move a little stiffly and that eyebrow looks like it could use some stitches…" I sighed a little but gave them a smile anyway; they were just worried for me after all and answered.

"Yeah I´ll be fine… The bruises are nasty ones but they will fade and it is true that my eyebrow could use some stitches but I refuse to go to the hospital just for that. I am sorry for the way I acted before but you guys need to learn to trust me when I say that I can walk on my own or that I´m fine."

They all shared a look before nodding in agreement with me.

"If we promise to try and do that will you let me take a look at your eyebrow and bruises? If you really don´t want to go to the hospital I can do the stitches myself." Sasori said and I nodded. I could accept that at least.

We finished our food and put the dishes away before I took a seat on top of the kitchen table to give Sasori access to my split eyebrow. He carefully pulled the surgical tape away and then prodded the wound with gentle fingers, quickly coming to the conclusion that it did indeed need some stitches.

He fetched a first aid kit from his room that clearly held much more than the regular ones, it almost looked like those kits you could find in ambulances. He pulled out all the necessary items and numbed the area before starting to stitch it shut. While he worked I asked the others.

"How come all of you are so good at first aid?"

"Practice, yeah." Deidara answered. "We have a lot of opportunities to practice it. If one does it enough times it will be so ingrained in your memory that you´ll most likely never forget it, yeah. Of course a few of us has taken some classes as well, Sasori, Kakuzu and Konan have all taken classes so that we could take care of most injuries by ourselves, yeah."

I waited until Sasori was finished with my eyebrow before nodding my understanding and standing up since Sasori had asked to look at my bruises as well. Without having him ask me to, I pulled off my tank top and was left standing in my baggy jeans and sports bra, revealing the dark bruises on my mid-section.

I heard several gasps from the people in the room and to avoid looking at them, I tilted my head back and stared at the ceiling. I felt Sasori's hands travel over the bruises covering my body but he didn´t find any serious damage, as I knew he wouldn´t.

Then Sasoris hands was replaced with much larger ones and Kisame's face came into my field of sight despite me staring at the ceiling. He gently grabbed my chin and tilted my head down until I was looking him in the eyes and then he asked me.

"Did that guy do this to you? The one I took out?" I only nodded and Kisame pulled me closer in a gentle hug, mindful of my bruises. I realized that he was feeling guilty for not waking up sooner and helping me but there was no reason for him to feel that way. I told him that and once again he replied that I kept surprising him before he ruffled my hair and going with Hidan to the gym for a friendly spar.

I could see that both Sasori and Deidara were still worried about me though so I suggested that we´d take it easy for the rest of the day, maybe watch some movies or something. They agreed and we managed to finish three movies before Kakuzu and Pein returned home without Itachi and Konan.

"How´s Itachi? And where´s Konan?" I asked Pein worriedly and he gestured for me to come with him. I did so and saw that Kakuzu took a seat in the couch with Deidara and Sasori, telling them something serious by the looks of their faces.

Pein took me to his and Konans room, not his office like I would have expected. He told me to take a seat somewhere as he pulled a bag from a closet and started packing things into it.

"Itachi has amnesia, he doesn´t remember who he is or what he does for a living. He doesn´t remember his family, us or even you. Konan is still with him and I´m going back as well, I only went home to pack for us and talk to you since I know that you and Itachi are close."

I felt my heart constrict with sadness and worry, he didn´t remember me at all?

"As soon as the doctors allow him to go home we´re taking him here and if that doesn´t help him regain his memories, we´ll take him to Japan to meet with his family. And if that doesn´t work either… He might never regain his memories." Pein sighted heavily and sat down on the bed with his back to me.

"I don´t know what to tell you other than the truth Sakura… I don´t want to bring you pain and I know that I´m doing that right now but I don´t know what to say otherwise…" I saw his shoulders shake slightly and realized with a shock that he was actually crying.

I crept closer to him and enveloped him in a hug from behind, locking my arms around his waist and resting my head against his shaking shoulders.

"It´s okay Pein… I´ll be fine and Itachi will get his memories back, I´m sure of it. We just have to believe in him."

We sat in silence for a little while before I felt Pein straighten his posture and when I released him he went back to packing. When he was done he looked at me like he wanted to say something more but I only shook my head no and wrapped my arms around him in another hug. There was nothing more to be said right now. I felt him kiss my forehead and then he was gone.

I stayed in his and Konan´s bedroom for a little while, trying to collect my thoughts before returning to the others. I wasn´t having much success though…

How could he have just forgotten about me? About all of us?

I knew that he wasn´t the one to blame but I couldn´t really comprehend that he might not be Itachi anymore. He was supposed to be my adopted older brother, not a stranger that didn´t knew me or himself…

I had to call Sasuke. He had the right to know what had happened and I knew that no one would have called Itachi's family yet. I pulled my cell from my pocket and punched in the numbers that I knew as well as my own.

I checked my watch to see what time it could be in Japan. It was five pm which meant that it was around eight am or something in Japan.

_"Hello?"_ I almost cried when I heard the familiar voice of Sasuke on the other end and I had to blink away tears as I said.

"Hi Sasuke it´s Sakura."

_"Sakura! Hold on I´ll put you on speaker so that the dobe can hear as well. How are things going back home? Are you alright? Did something happen?"_

"I´m fine, turns out that it is my own mother who´s trying to kill me to get to my father´s money. Oh and I have two half-brothers, Pein and Sasori."

_"What?! Your mother is the one trying to kill you?! Wait… Pein and Sasori, aren´t they the leader and a member of Akatsuki?"_

"They are, but listen to me guys I didn´t call just to tell you about how chaotic my life have become. Something has happened and it's serious…" The silence on the other end told me that I had the boy's attention and I continued after taking a shaky breath.

"I… Itachi was hit over the head and he… he have amnesia. He has lost all his memories…"

_"Itachi have… what? Sakura tell me everything."_

It took me almost an hour to explain everything to my two best friends but they promised to tell the rest of the Uchiha family so that I didn´t have to. No doubt Sasuke and Itachi's father would blame me for this as well.

But when I hung up I felt both a little better and a little worse than before. It felt great being able to talk to them after so long but I was sad that it had to be because of this… And talking to them only made me miss them even more…

It was dinnertime when I finally emerged from Pein and Konan´s bedroom and I expected everyone to be in the kitchen, eating dinner by now so imagine my surprise when I saw a figure leaning against the wall of the hallway, apparently waiting for me.

It was Kisame, his large blue frame very hard to miss or mistake for someone else and as soon as he saw me, he opened his arms for me to take shelter in. If anyone here would understand what I was feeling it would be him, since he was Itachi's partner and one of his best friends.

I stepped into Kisame's embrace and felt his huge arms close in around my body. I hid my face in his chest and begged him.

"Please tell me that everything will be alright?" his arms tightened around me and he leaned down so that he was able to whisper in my ear.

"It will be alright Sakura, we´ll make it alright." He promised me and I felt myself smile despite the situation. Kisame really was awesome… We joined the others in the kitchen and saw that they had ordered pizza for dinner tonight. I grabbed a slice before asking them.

"Who will be the leader until Pein gets back?"

"I will." Answered Kakuzu with a sigh. "And as soon as we finish dinner I have to try and get a hold of Itachi's family…"

"Don´t bother with that." I told him. "I have already spoken to Sasuke and Naruto and they promised to tell his parents for us, no doubt his father is going to blame me for this…"

I lowered my head, thinking to myself that perhaps he was right to blame me. Perhaps it would be better for everyone involved if I simply let my mother kill me?

I was pulled from my depressing thoughts when Kakuzu placed his large hand on my knee. I looked up and when I met his gaze he told me.

"You didn´t have to do that, but I am grateful that you did."

That made me smile and I went back to eating feeling a little lighter than before.

* * *

A few hours later everything was calming down for the night. Kisame had already gone to bed, as had Hidan. Kakuzu was in the office, trying to figure out what needed to be done in the next few days and Sasori was in his room, working on his computer again.

I was in the kitchen, making hot cocoa and trying to get myself relaxed enough for sleep. My body was exhausted and aching but my mind was refusing to shut off, going a hundred miles a minute.

I was dressed in my panda-pajamas, a pair of white shorts with lots of tiny little pandas on them and a white tank top with a large one on it. I yawned and poured the hot beverage in a cup before sitting down at the table, leaning my head against my arms as I waited for the hot drink to cool down a little.

That's how Deidara found me when he entered the kitchen a little while later.

"Sakura? I didn´t know that you were still awake, aren´t you tired?" He asked me and sat down next to me with a bottle of water.

"I am exhausted but my mind won´t let me sleep." I whined without lifting my head, lifting my head seemed like too much of an effort.

"Well you can´t sit here all night, you need to rest so that you will heal." He said and poured my now cold cocoa into the sink before pulling me to my feet and dragging me with him in the direction of my bedroom.

He went and laid down in my bed, still pulling me with him but he moved a little too fast for my aching body and I slipped and fell on top of him, choking back a pained moan as my bruised body made impact with Deidara´s muscled one.

"Oh my god Sakura I´m sorry, are you okay?" He asked from underneath me as I slowly sat up with one arm cradling my middle.

"I´m fine." I answered and quickly got off him before he realized what position we were in. I lay down beside him instead and snuggled up close to him, using his shoulder as a pillow.

He was warm and I felt safe lying next to him, one of his arms resting loosely around my waist and the other one placed behind his head. His breathing was calm and I felt my body becoming heavier with sleepiness but my mind still refused to turn off for the night.

I couldn´t stop thinking about how Itachi's father would react to the news that his son had gotten a concussion as well as amnesia. Since he blamed Sasuke´s gunshot wound on me, why wouldn´t he blame this on me as well?

"Hey Deidara?" I asked him quietly.

"Mm, what is it yeah?"

"Do you think it is my fault that Naruto, Sasuke and now Itachi got hurt? Perhaps Itachi´s and Sasuke´s father is right to blame me…"

"That´s ridiculous Sakura, of course it isn´t your fault. The only one to blame is the Sound gang and your mother, you can´t help that they are targeting you." He told me seriously and rose up on one elbow so that he could look at my face as he spoke.

His eyes looked darker in the faint light from the moon and seemed to have turned to the color of the ocean underneath a starry sky. They were completely focused on me and I actually forgot what I was worrying about.

My eyes searched his face as he held himself up above me and when he slowly leaned closer to my face, I felt my heart racing. Time seemed to stop completely as he halted his movements not even an inch away from me, hesitation visible in his eyes.

The moment was just about to pass when I realized that if I didn´t do something, I would most likely regret it forever. So I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips against his.

* * *

So... What do you think about it?

**Question: Do you believe that the Akatsuki are really evil, or just mislead and lost?**

I belive in the latter, I think that without Tobi/Madara/Obito meddling in Pein´s organization, they would be very different. He and Konan were war orphans, why would they want more blood spilled?

Love C


	7. Chapter 7 - A new face and lost memories

I do not own Naruto

* * *

**My life on the line**

_Chapter Seven – A new face and lost memories_

* * *

_Recap: The moment was just about to pass when I realized that if I didn´t do something, I would most likely regret it forever. So I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips against his._

* * *

The kiss was short but incredible and when our lips parted again both of our faces were flushed and Deidara´s gaze seemed even more intense.

He held his weight up with one arm and used the other to gently cup my face, his eyes never leaving mine as he asked me.

"Are you sure that this is what you want Sakura?"

"I´m sure." I answered and pulled him down for another kiss before releasing my hold on him and allowing him to lie down beside me again while I curled up close to his side.

"Let´s just take things slow for a while… Please?" I asked him and fought against sleep that seemed only seconds away now.

"Whatever you are comfortable with is okay with me Blossom; you just need to let me know." And with his reassurance I finally fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning was only a little embarrassing when we entered the kitchen where everyone else was hand in hand. But everyone took it really well; everyone smiled and seemed genuinely happy for us.

When breakfast was over and done with, Sasori and Hidan disappeared to try and break the encryption that protected the USB memory from our eyes. Deidara and Kisame went to the hospital to check on Itachi, Pein and Konan and Kakuzu gestured for me to follow him to the office.

He closed the door behind us and I was instantly nervous, was he going to yell at me for getting together with Deidara? Was he going to tell me that I was forbidden from seeing the Uchiha family ever again? Was there something wrong at the hospital? Kakuzu noticed my panicked expression and said calmly.

"Calm down Sakura nothing´s wrong, I can see in your eyes that that is what you are thinking. I only wanted to tell you that I´m bringing one of our old members here and since you and Deidara have gotten together, to ask you, if you two can share a room while he is here?"

"Sure, it´s no problem. When is he supposed to arrive?"

"Later this afternoon."

After leaving Kakuzu in Pein´s office I called Deidara to tell him about the situation and ask him if he minded staying in my room. I didn´t think I could sleep very well in the same room I had killed a person.

Thankfully he didn´t mind moving into my room so while everybody was busy with what they were doing, I was moving Deidara´s belongings from his room to mine.

I was leaving Deidara´s room for the last time with my arms full of heavy books when suddenly a strange man stood in front of me, blocking my way. I froze and dropped the books, slowly backing away from him, my eyes wide.

I didn´t recognize him but that just meant that I didn´t know if he was the old member coming back or another one from Sound trying to kill me.

He was rather tall and had well developed muscles just like the other Akatsuki members. But his coloring was what was really eye-catching. His body seemed to be split down the middle, one half of him almost white and the other half of him a dark, olive color. His eyes were golden and his hair an unusual shade of green.

He looked almost as surprised to see me as I was to see him.

"Who are you?" I asked him in a terrified whisper, the memories of my last encounter with a sound member in this room replaying themselves vividly in the front of my mind.

"My name is Zetzu, Kakuzu asked me to come here because something had happened to Itachi. But who are you? A new member?" His voice was kind of quiet, gentle and I visibly relaxed when I realized that he was indeed the old member coming back.

"No I´m not a member, Name´s Sakura." Understanding dawned on him and he said.

"Oh, it´s nice to meet you then, sorry if I frightened you."

"No worries." I reassured him and left him to settle in in peace.

When my room was finally organized with the addition of Deidara´s things I went to the kitchen to fetch a bottle of water and was absentmindedly rubbing my bruises to try and ease some of the ache away.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn´t notice that Kakuzu, Sasori, Hidan and Zetzu were all sitting at the table, watching me. I jumped when Sasori suddenly said.

"Hey Sakura how are the bruises looking? I imagine that they must look even worse today than they did yesterday?"

When I managed to calm my racing heart I focused on the guy´s sitting at the table and nodded in Sasori's direction.

"Yeah they look like shit, hurts like a bitch to…" I mumbled and instantly regretted it when Sasori narrowed his eyes and locked them on me.

"What do you mean 'they hurt like a bitch'? How bad are you hurting really?" I didn´t answer him immediately and I could feel all of the others staring at me, Kakuzu and Hidan with worry, Zetzu with confusion.

Suddenly Sasori grasped the bottom of my shirt and started pulling it up and I locked my arms around my middle, stopping him.

"Come on Sakura let me see, I might be able to help you but not unless I can see how they look." Sasori said to me, seriously but gently at the same time. I sighed but gave up the fight, knowing that nothing good would come out of it if I didn´t.

I just didn´t want the attention this was sure to bring.

I pulled my shirt up and once again was rewarded with several gasps, I knew that the bruises had darkened even more and now looked almost black instead of purple and blue. I didn´t want to see them look at me so I closed my eyes and allowed Sasori to check my mid-section once again with his gentle hands.

"I was worried that you would have triggered some internal bleeding but that doesn´t seem to be the case… I have some ointment that should help them heal faster though…" Sasori said after a while and I only nodded before quickly escaping from the room. Just before I got out of hearing range I heard Hidan swear and say.

"I think we did something wrong again guys…"

That almost made me turn around and go back to the kitchen but instead I shook my head slightly before going into my room with a tiny smile playing on my lips.

It wasn´t that they had done something wrong that made me so uneasy, I just didn´t want the attention that the bruises gave me. And now I worried that the new guy, Zetzu, believed that I was as useless as I felt right now…

I lay down on my back on the bed and closed my eyes for what I could swear was only a moment, but when I opened them again a whole hour had passed and there was gentle knocking on the door.

I got up from the bed with only a little trouble and opened the door, expecting to find Sasori or perhaps even Hidan on the other side. I did not expect it to be Zetzu.

"May I come in Sakura? I would very much like it if we could talk for a while and perhaps get to know each other a little better; the guys talk so much about you and I´m curious to find out if everything they are saying is true."

I opened the door wider and told him.

"Sure, come on in." I went back to the bed and took a seat while Zetzu chose to sit down in one of the chairs. He looked at me with his all-seeing golden eyes and asked me.

"Kisame told me how you got so banged up, is it true?" I felt a little uneasy by his question and shifted nervously on the bed before responding.

"That depends on what he told you."

"He said that you, him and Itachi was searching through an apartment for clues about what the person trying to kill you was going to do next and that when he and Itachi were knocked out by sound gang members, you took out four of them on your own."

"Five if you count the one in the foyer where I jumped over the railing and landed on top of him…" I added quietly while looking down at my lap.

We sat in silence for a while but I felt Zetzu's eyes still locked on me and I once again shifted nervously in my seat.

"Do I make you nervous Sakura?" He asked suddenly and I felt my eyes immediately search out his to see if he had an ulterior motive for asking me that. It didn´t look like that, so I answered him honestly.

"A little, yes… I have just met you and with the turns my life have taken the last few weeks, I have a little trouble trusting people I don´t know."

"That is understandable, I would have been surprised if you hadn´t been at least a little wary of me. Kakuzu has filled me in on everything that has happened to you but there was one thing he insisted that you should tell me yourself, and that is who exactly is trying to kill you?"

I was surprised that Kakuzu had left out that tidbit of information but then realized that he probably felt that it was my right to tell Zetzu that it was my own mother wanting me dead.

"It´s my mother, she wants me dead so that she can get the money my father gave to me instead of to her when they divorced." I said quietly and just like when the others found out, Zetzu reacted with surprise and shock.

But his honest reaction broke the awkward ice that had been between us since he arrived and we were still sitting in my room, talking when Kisame and Deidara returned from the hospital later that night.

"You two seem to get along just fine, looks like Kakuzu was wrong to worry." Kisame's voice sounded from the now open door and in a split second I was off the bed and in front of Kisame, demanding to know how Itachi was doing.

"Calm down kitten he´s fine, still no memories though." Kisame answered and put his hand on top of my head when I deflated a little. Deidara showed up next to Kisame and wrapped his arms around me before telling Zetzu.

"Good to see you again Zetzu, Kakuzu was looking for you earlier, he´s in the office, yeah." Zetzu nodded once and disappeared along with Kisame, leaving me and Deidara alone.

"How´s your day been Blossom?" Deidara asked while pressing a light kiss to the side of my neck.

"Got scared half to death when Zetzu showed up and it feels like my bruises are trying to kill me." I answered with a sigh and tightened my hold on his waist.

"Yeah I met Sasori in the hallway and he said that they were looking bad, he gave me this ointment to give to you and said to tell you to put it on when you went to bed, yeah." He handed me a small jar and I put it on my bedside table before sitting down on the bed again and asking him.

"Did I put all your things where they belong? I don´t have much, so I tried to put all your things in the same places as in your old room."

"It´s fine, don´t worry so much Sakura, yeah. There´s no need." He pressed another kiss to the skin on my throat and then we simply lay on the bed, talking, until Sasori fetched us for dinner.

* * *

The rest of the night passed by quietly and soon I was once again dressed in my panda pajamas, getting ready for bed. It felt a little strange that Deidara was already in the bed waiting for me, but it felt strange in a good way.

It was a little exciting.

I finished brushing my teeth and then rinsed my mouth with mouthwash before exiting the bedroom and sliding in under the covers next to Deidara. That´s when I remembered the ointment that was waiting for me on the bedside table and with an annoyed sigh; I turned the lights back on and reached for the small jar.

"What are you doing?" Deidara asked me and looked over my shoulder as I pulled the lid from the jar and pulled my shirt up.

"I forgot to put on the ointment Sasori gave me." I answered as I tried to hold my shirt up, hold the jar and spread some ointment on my bruises. Suddenly the jar was taken from me and I was pulled back on the bed so that I was lying on my back once again.

My eyes widened as I realized that Deidara had taken the jar from me and was now sitting on my thighs, straddling them. His own calm eyes met my wide ones and then his hands started to spread the ointment over my stomach and side with slow, sensual movements.

"Deidara… What are you doing?" I asked him breathlessly as his hands skillfully worked over my skin, smearing the ointment out without making it hurt.

"Helping you." He answered before leaning down and placing several kisses on my exposed throat, eventually biting down lightly and sucking hard, marking my pale skin.

My lips parted on their own and a small gasp escaped from them before Deidara released the skin on my throat and pressed his lips against mine in a mind blowing kiss.

All too soon the kiss ended and Deidara´s hands stopped their circular movements over my bruised skin. He got off me and put the lid back on the jar before putting the jar back on the bedside table before he laid down back next to me.

He turned to his side and pulled on my body until I was lying in the same way he was, my back pulled flush against his front. I felt him nuzzle my neck before whispering in my ear.

"Goodnight Blossom." And then it didn´t take long for his breathing to even out, indicating that he had fallen asleep. My body was still tingling from his attention and I suddenly realized that asking that we´d take things slow might have been a decision I would come to regret deeply.

* * *

A few days passed quickly, my bruises healed and Sasori could take the stitched out from my eyebrow. I got to know Zetzu like I knew the other guys and found out that he was slightly schizophrenic. Itachi had been steadily improving and while he still hadn´t gotten his memories back, he was being released from the hospital today and was expected back here any minute now.

The apartment was empty except for me, Sasori and Deidara had taken the USB memory to a friend of Sasori's since we couldn´t access it´s content. Kakuzu and Hidan were once again out on the streets, trying to find out where my mother was staying and what sound was planning next.

Zetzu was out somewhere as well, he hadn´t told us where he was going but the others had said that it was normal behavior for him. And Pein, Konan and Kisame were bringing Itachi here.

I was pacing, too anxious to sit still and while I knew that Itachi still didn´t have any memories of me, I still hoped that he would recognize me when he saw me.

The elevator dinged, telling me that they had arrived and went into the living room to meet them.

The first one out of the elevator was Konan, looking tired followed by an equally tired-looking Pein. They both immediately headed for their room, Konan mumbling something about a shower and Pein about some sleep.

Then Itachi finally showed himself and I found myself looking over him both two and three times. He looked just as he always did. But then I noticed that he was watching everything in the living room like he had never seen it before and the harsh reality washed over me like cold water.

His eyes focused on me and where I had hoped to see recognition, I only saw slight curiosity.

He didn´t recognize me at all.

Kisame exited the elevator behind him and I could see that he too was taking this hard. But nevertheless he introduced me to Itachi before taking him on a tour of the apartment.

I didn´t follow them and instead went back to the kitchen, hoping to find something to occupy myself with to keep my thoughts away from the possibility that Itachi might never get his memories back.

* * *

Another week passed without Itachi regaining his memories, but his nights seemed to be filled with nightmares, memories from past missions that made him slightly dangerous to wake up.

I had woken up early one morning and gotten up to make some fresh muffins to serve at breakfast. Deidara had gotten back late the night before and I believed that he would continue to sleep without noticing that I had left the bed.

I had just taken the muffins out of the oven when I felt the cold blade from a knife being pressed against the tender skin on my neck, and the body of a muscular male behind me.

I became a statue, frozen in fear, expecting my life to end at any second when the man behind me spoke in a voice that I recognized all too well.

"Where is she?" It was Itachi and from what I could tell he was trapped at least to some extent in a memory he didn´t recognize.

"Who?" I asked him as calmly as I could and had to hold back a wince when the blade bit into my neck, allowing a small trickle of blood to escape.

"Don´t play stupid! The girl I am supposed to protect of course! The one who looks like you, only she is twelve years old."

My blood ran cold and I felt fear trickle through me. He believed that I was the enemy and that a younger version of me was who was supposed to protect.

It seemed like bringing him here had been a bad idea, his memories mixing with each other and creating things that weren´t true. I suddenly realized that I was in real danger here, since nothing I could say would be true.

Suddenly I was spun around and then Itachi held me in front of himself, using me as a shield with the knife still at my throat when he faced the person I hadn´t heard coming.

Konan and Hidan were standing in the doorway, Konan looking shocked and scared and Hidan quickly assessing the situation with calculating eyes. His eyes met mine and in them I saw the message to stay calm as he calmly told Konan.

"Go and get the others, tell them that Itachi is losing control." She quickly disappeared and Hidan took a small step closer to us, but when he did that Itachi pressed the knife even harder against my throat, making even more blood appear and this time I couldn´t hold back the wince.

Hidan immediately stopped and watched Itachi very closely as he did something that I couldn´t see. Hidan´s eyes suddenly became very wide and he actually took a step back from us.

"Itachi… Put the gun down…" He said very calmly and without taking his eyes off us for a second. But even before I had time to realize what he had said, I was spun around violently again.

This time my back made harsh contact with the wall and Itachi's hand that only a moment ago held a knife against my throat, was now empty but instead squeezing my throat tightly, making it hard to breathe.

The next thing I knew I had a gun pointed straight at my forehead, only inches away.

I was too scared to breathe and the world around me disappeared, leaving only me, Itachi and the gun. Something must´ve happened around us because the hand around my throat tightened even more, slowly choking me.

I allowed my eyes to close despite someone yelling my name in an almost desperate voice, if Itachi was going to kill me I didn´t want to see it happen.

But once again something happened around us, and suddenly I could breathe again. Arms were wrapped tightly around me, too tight. I started to panic and trashed against the hold, still afraid to open my eyes.

"Sakura open your eyes!" I heard Deidara´s commanding voice say in my ear and I immediately obeyed him. Suddenly I was staring up in his worried blue eyes, my head in his lap and one of his hands keeping pressure at the small cut on my neck that was slowly oozing blood.

"It´s all right Sakura, I´ve got you." He assured me but put his other hand on my shoulder to keep me down when I tried to sit up.

"No stay down, Let someone take a look at your neck before sitting up, sitting up right now will only exaggerate the bleeding." He said and seemed to be looking for someone. There was a lot of noise in the room, someone was yelling but I didn´t hear what and I didn´t want to look.

It didn´t want to see what was happening right now.

It felt kind of unreal, like it wasn´t really happening, like it was just a bad dream that someone soon would wake me from. But I didn´t wake up, and the yelling remained. And then I heard who it was who yelled, and what he was yelling.

It was Itachi, and he was yelling my name with a desperation that I didn´t understand. It was as if he thought I had died…

But then I understood, since they had gotten me away from him, he felt as if he had failed his mission and the young version of me that he had been protecting had died.

It broke my heart.

Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes and my chest hurt as if there was burning acid inside my chest cavity, filling the space where my heart should be. I kept my eyes locked with Deidara´s, knowing that if I looked away even for a second, I would lose it.

I gladly carried all the pain and suffering in the world as long as my friend's didn´t have to.

And right now, Itachi was suffering.

Deidara noticed my eyes tearing up and yelled something that I didn´t hear to someone I couldn´t see. Listening to Itachi scream made me feel like I wanted to die and I could do nothing to stop the torture that both he and I were feeling.

But suddenly the heartbreaking shrieks were blocked out by two hands over my sensitive ears, they didn´t shut out the sound completely but they made it bearable.

Deidara still had one of his hands pressed against my neck and the other one was resting on my forehead, holding my head still so I knew that it wasn´t him that protected me from the agony of Itachi's pain.

I noticed a weight across my midsection that wasn´t there earlier and looked down to see Hidan straddling my stomach, his beautiful amethyst eyes filled with emotional pain as he protected my ears.

The tears in my eyes fell and I saw Hidan give me a tiny, sad little smile before I looked back up at Deidara and mouthed a quiet 'thank you'.

Then everything around me turned black.

* * *

When I woke up again, silent tears were running down my cheeks and I was back in my own bed. Deidara wasn´t with me though and I sat up suddenly, choking back sobs.

Where was he? What had happened? How was Itachi?

Arms where suddenly around me, holding me together when it felt like I was about to break. But they didn´t belong to Deidara either…

I looked up and immediately recognized the silver hair and amethyst eyes as Hidan´s; he had a pained expression on his face and begged me in a whisper.

"Please don´t cry… I can´t handle more crying…" I allowed myself to cling to him and was soon able to stop the tears that wanted to spill from my eyes, calming down enough to ask him what exactly had happened.

"As you surely remember, Itachi had some kind of breakdown and held a gun to your head. Sasori tackled him away from you but the gun went off and he was grazed by the bullet on his upper arm. Deidara and Kakuzu has taken him to the hospital, that´s why I´m here and not him." I nodded and gestured for him to continue.

"While Sasori did that, Deidara pulled you away and since you were bleeding rather badly when you moved, we couldn´t move you from the kitchen. Then Itachi started yelling like crazy for some reason and when we finally got him sedated, you had already passed out."

"Where is he now?" I asked him, closing my eyes as if that would make the answer any easier to hear.

"Pein, Konan and Zetzu are taking him to Japan, to his family."

I had to bite my lip to keep the tears at bay when he said that. I knew that it probably was for the best, that he would have the biggest chance to regain his memories with them but it still hurt.

I hadn´t been able to help him at all… In fact, I had made things even worse for him. What if he really had killed me? Or Sasori, what would have happened when he regained his memories then?

"Where´s Kisame then?" I asked when I felt that I was controlled enough not to let my voice waver.

"In his room, he hasn´t showed himself since they took Itachi away…" A tremor shook my body and I felt Hidan´s arms tighten comfortingly around me. I raised one of my hands to my neck and felt the slightly rough texture of gauze underneath my fingertips.

"Are you in pain? The cut wasn´t very deep but I know from experience that wounds on the neck tend to hurt more than others." Hidan asked but I shook my head no.

"I´m fine… I´m worried about Itachi and Kisame though… And I wish Deidara was here, but I´m fine. Are you? You looked really tormented when you had your hands over my ears…"

"I´m okay, don´t worry about me. Do you want to go and see Kisame? He won´t talk to me but perhaps you have better luck…"

When I nodded my head yes, Hidan helped me off the bed and followed me to Kisame's closed door.

"The door isn´t locked, I´ll be in my room if you need anything." He said and turned to walk away but I stopped him with a hand on his arm and pressed a light, friendly kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you." I told him before opening Kisame's door and disappearing into the dark room.

"Kisame?" I asked in a voice barely loud enough to qualify as a whisper and blinked to try and make my eyes get used to the darkness faster.

I didn´t get an answer but I could hear the faint rustle of silk sheets moving and walked slowly in the direction of where I thought the bed was. I found it by walking straight into it and swore quietly before climbing onto the bed, finding Kisame's large form curled up on the side, lightly shaking.

He was crying, silent tears that I knew from experience hurt much more than loud sobs.

I didn´t say anything, but I did curl up next to him, as close as I could get and did my best to wrap my arms around him. I tried to sooth him by telling him that everything would be fine, even if I didn´t even fully believe it anymore.

Kisame's shoulders shook harder and he turned towards me and pulled me against him like he was a little boy and I was his teddy bear. We cried together, and then we talked before crying some more and then we finally fell asleep, protected from the harsh reality at least for a little while.

* * *

Let me know what you think.

**Question: Who would you want to take care of you when you´re sick?**

I´d like Sasori to care for me, he has confidence enough to trust in his abilities and with all the poisons he make and the fact that he turned himself into a puppet, his knowledge of the human anatomy has to be extensive. He is calm and therefore wouldn´t panic if my health took a turn for the worse and he is usually rather quiet, which is good in case of a headache.

Love C


	8. Chapter 8-Pictures and sleeping together

I do not own Naruto

* * *

**My life on the line**

_Chapter Eight – Scary photos and sleeping together_

* * *

**Warning: **Lemon in this one people

* * *

It took both me and Kisame a few days to get ourselves together again, but we did it and things slowly started to become normal again. or at least as normal as they could get with Itachi, Pein and Konan in Japan.

For the time being, Kisame had paired up with Zetzu and while they got along great and worked well together, everyone could see that he missed his usual partner.

Kisame and Zetzu were out for the afternoon, Sasori and Deidara were also out; looking for a friend of Sasori's that might be able to crack the password that still stubbornly protected the USB memory from us. Kakuzu were in the office, holding a phone conference with Pein and as far as I knew, Hidan were in the gym working out.

I was in the living room with my newly bought laptop in front of me, trying every password that my mind could come up with that my mother might have used on the USB memory. But I was having no success and was growing more and more frustrated.

I sighed and pushed the computer away from me, I had to much nervous energy to be able to do this anymore. With the hopes that I would be able to convince Hidan to teach me some more self-defense moves, I went back to mine and Deidara´s room to change my clothes.

Dressed in a pair of blue yoga pants and a white tank top I entered the well-equipped gym, looking around curiously at all the machine´s and at the same time searching for Hidan.

He wasn´t training as I had expected him to, no he was putting a machine together that was obviously new and must´ve gotten here this very day.

"What are you doing?" I asked him and sat down on the floor on the other side of the machine, facing him.

"I´m assembling this machine." He answered absent-mindedly while tightening a screw.

"I can see that, what kind of machine is it?"

"A treadmill, Kisame said that you used to run ten miles a day before and that you missed it. So Pein ordered a treadmill so that you could run again without having to go out to do so." Hidan explained and tightened another screw.

I couldn´t believe it, Pein had ordered a treadmill just for me? And Kisame had remembered that I love to run even though everything that had happened with Itachi? Oh my god I love these guys…

I could barely sit still as Hidan finished assemble the machine and as soon as he was done I was on it, running like I had longed to do for weeks.

Hidan stood next to me and simply watched, a smile on his face but when I passed the three mile mark and didn´t show any signs of stopping, he went over to the weights and started working out as well. I made it to my usual five mile mark but decided to run an extra mile just because it felt so good to be able to run again.

While I ran I allowed my thoughts to run freely as well, and they inevitably circled back to what kind of password my mother could have put on the USB memory. All kinds of possibilities ran through my head in rhythm with the pounding of my feet against the treadmill and when I remembered something that could actually be the password, I almost fell off the machine.

I stopped the treadmill and looked how far I had run while my thoughts were running rampant. I was surprised to see that I had actually ran eight miles, that was more than I had expected but I didn´t have the time to think more about that.

I had to go back to my computer and try out the possible password.

I left the gym without a word and hurried back to the living room where my computer was. I quickly pushed in the password and then crossed my fingers as I pressed down 'enter'.

I got in.

The password was my mother´s old nickname for me when I was little; the password was _'my little cherry blossom'_.

The USB memory held only two folders, one named photos and one named documents. I opened the one named photos first and then froze in my seat as I realized what it contained.

Hundreds, no thousands of photos of me.

There were photos of me from most of my teens and up until today. The photos seemed to have started shortly after my mother leaving my father and I, the first ones showing me in my depressed phase before showing me with piercings and tattoo´s.

I continued to look despite a feeling in my stomach that told me I was going to regret it if I did that, but I had to know what else there were pictures of.

I saw myself change as the years passed and then came the photos I had been afraid of seeing. My father's murder. There were photos of the murder scene, photos of me at the funeral and even a few photos of me when I was staying with Naruto and Sasuke.

I saw myself move into my apartment and move on with my life and soon the pictures from the recent past came up. There were several photos of me sleeping in my bed in my apartment. Then there were photos of what was left of the apartment, of me with the different Akatsuki members and even one of me at the bank when we fetched my safe deposit box.

I couldn´t watch any more, there was too much photos, too much of my life showing in these pictures for me to be able to handle it. I hurried back to the now empty gym, leaving my computer on in the living room, hoping that if i ran long enough, far enough, the haunting photos would stop showing before my eyes.

* * *

Running was all I knew, the pulse pounding in my ears, my labored breathing the only sound in the room except for the thuds my feet made every time they made contact with the treadmill.

I had been in the gym for almost an hour now, trying to run away from the memories of the photos I had found on the USB memory. I knew that when someone discovered my computer and looked at what I had found, they would probably come looking for me.

But before that happened I wanted to push my body far beyond its limits, hoping to drive myself to complete exhaustion. Maybe then the pictures would stop showing themselves in my head…

After a quick peek at the display I saw that I had just passed the seven mile mark, and if I added the eight miles I had run before, I was now up to fifteen miles.

It was a lot for my body to handle since it had been a few weeks since I last ran but I figured that a few more miles couldn´t hurt. Perhaps if I barely had the energy left to move my body I could sleep without nightmares tonight…

I concentrated on simply putting one foot in front of the other again but my concentration was broken when Hidans voice sounded from the doorway.

"Sakura are you in here? I found your computer… Kakuzu is looking through it as we speak." I didn´t answer him and instead continued running, hoping that he would go away if I ignored him.

"Sakura?" He asked again and I could hear him stepping closer. Since the display showed both how much I had ran since I started but also how much I had ran today in total, I knew that he was going to force me to quit when he saw that my total was close to sixteen miles.

He did exactly as I had predicted and even cut the power to make me stop. That forced me to step off the machine and then I stood on shaking legs, breathing heavily as Hidan only looked at me.

"It won´t work Sakura, you can´t run away from your problems." He said and wrapped his arms loosely around my waist when it looked like my legs were about to give in.

"I know… But I can try can´t I?" I asked him with tears gathering in my eyes. He tightened his arms around me and said seriously.

"Just don´t try too hard… You´ll only end up hurting yourself..."

* * *

When Deidara and Sasori came back I was in my room, flat on my back in my bed, my legs in so much pain that I thought it would drive me crazy. Apparently all that running had made my muscles tense up and now they were cramping, causing me pain.

Kakuzu and Hidan had gone through all the contents of the USB memory and while it wasn´t pretty, it gave us some good information. Hidan had been checking on me almost every five minutes and was constantly asking if I wanted something or if he could do something to help me.

I had never experienced this before so I didn´t know what could help, I just told him that I was fine and that we could ask Sasori when he returned.

But I didn´t let them call Sasori so that he could get back faster, no I was stubborn. I had caused this myself and therefore I would wait until he came back on his own. At least the pain kept me from thinking about what I had seen on the USB memory…

"Sakura are you okay, yeah? Hidan said that you figured out the password and saw some bad stuff that made you run on the treadmill for a really long time…" Deidara´s voice suddenly sounded from the open doorway and lifted my head to look at him.

He must´ve seen the pain on my face because he looked taken aback and said, slightly shocked.

"Sweet Kami… How far did you run on the treadmill exactly, yeah?"

"Almost sixteen miles…" I answered through gritted teeth as another wave of pain went through my legs. Deidara closed the door behind him and pulled his shirt off as he walked up to the bed.

"Will you be alright if I take a shower? I might be able to help you relieve some of the pain but I really need a shower…"

"I´ll be fine, don´t worry." I told him and watched as he started to unbuckle the belt of his pants while gathering clean underwear and closing himself in the bathroom. I don´t know when it happened but both he and I had stopped locking the door when we took showers.

I heard the water running and knew that he would be out again in no time. I was surprised that Sasori hadn´t come with him to check on me but it was rather late, 10 pm. Kisame and Zetzu had called and told us that they were staying in a hotel for the night, they had followed a lead that had taken them to a neighboring town and would be back tomorrow.

Another wave of pain went through me and I closed my eyes, maybe it hadn´t been such a good idea to run that far…

But before I knew it Deidara was standing next to the bed again, dressed in only a pair of dark red silk boxers and with his hair still wet from the shower. The well-defined muscles on his stomach, torso and upper body moved underneath his skin when he leaned over me and carefully prodded the muscles in my legs.

He frowned and asked me in a serious voice.

"How long have they been cramping like this, yeah?"

"A few hours I guess… three or four maybe?" I answered vaguely, not knowing for sure.

"Three or four hours? Are you insane, yeah? Why didn´t you call us back? We could have been back much sooner…"

"Hidan wanted to." I interrupted him. "But I didn´t allow him or Kakuzu to call you."

"Why?" He asked slowly, searching my face with his eyes. I closed my own eyes before I answered him.

"Because the pain keeps the pictures out of my head…"

I could feel him look at me for a really long time before he sat down on the bed and ran his hands up one of my legs. I opened my eyes to see what he was doing but when he started massaging my cramping muscles they fell shut again and I let out a low moan that came from both pain and pleasure.

He sure could work miracles with his hands.

I felt the pain slowly ease up the longer he massaged me and after a while he said.

"Kakuzu said that there was a lot of disturbing photos on the USB memory, are they the pictures you meant? Were the photos that bad?"

He started working on my other leg and I turned my head to the side before admitting.

"Some of them were… The earliest photos are from right after my mother left us, and they continue all the way until today…"

"Meaning that some of them are from the hardest parts of your life…" Deidara concluded and smiled when he made me moan again. I only nodded and felt a blush starting to form on my face when his hands traveled higher and higher on my leg, almost reaching the hem of my really short pajama shorts.

The pain in my legs were gone by now and was slowly being replaced by a burning sensation low in my stomach that I hadn´t felt in a really long time. It looked like the 'taking things slow' period had ended but I didn´t mind, I was rather looking forward to it.

But suddenly Deidaras hands stopped their exploration and he got off the bed, walking towards the light button. I sat up on my elbows and looked at him with surprise in my eyes as he flicked the lights off and turned towards me.

I knew that he could see me in the faint light from the small lamp standing on my bedside table, but I could no longer see him since he was standing in the shadows.

"Why did you stop?" I asked him, confused and slightly hurt. Had I misunderstood the situation? Didn´t he want me in the same way that I wanted him?

"I thought you said that you wanted to take things slow?" He asked, now sounding confused himself as he walked closer to the bed again. He stopped by the foot of the bed and I rose to my knees so that I could wrap my arms around his neck.

"I did but now I have changed my mind…" I whispered in his ear and proceeded to lick the outer shell of the same ear, making him shudder. I pulled him down with me when I lay back on the bed and since he was still dazed from me licking him, he fell right on top of me without holding his weight off of me.

I relished in the feeling of his heavy body on top of mine and almost whined when he held his weight up by his forearms. He pushed some hair away from my face but since his hair was still loose from the shower, it fell like a curtain around us, making us the only two people in the world.

"Are you sure Sakura? We don´t have to if you don´t want to." He told me and I smiled at his concern but answered him honestly.

"I´m sure… and frankly, if you leave me like this you can go and sleep on the couch." I felt him chuckle before his mouth descended on mine, whispering against my lips before devouring them in a deep kiss.

"And we can´t have that can we…"

As his tongue explored my mouth, I felt his hands land on my waist before slowly moving up my body, soon brushing the underside of my breasts. I moaned when one of his hands palmed a breast and he pulled away from my mouth only long enough to pull of my shirt and pajama shorts, leaving me in only a pair of black silk panties.

His mouth latched onto my neck, alternating between kissing, sucking and gently biting the tender skin there while slowly driving me insane with his hands that once again was inching their way up my body, their destination being my naked breasts and peaked nipples.

His mouth moved up along my neck to come to a stop by my ear, tickling me with his breath as he carefully closed his teeth around the outer shell of my ear, biting down gently at the same time he tweaked both of my nipples, making me moan helplessly at the pleasure.

The burning sensation low in my stomach had increased and now it felt like there was a small fire burning inside of me. I felt like it was my turn to tease him a little, so I spun us around so that he was at the bottom and I was lying on top of him.

I knew that if he hadn´t wanted me to turn us, I wouldn´t have been able to do that but since he allowed me to, I decided to fully enjoy the situation. I pushed his arms over his head until they were where I wanted them and when I pulled my hands away, he let them stay there.

I dragged my hands down his chest and leaned down to kiss him, while my tongue was busy wrestling with his I let my hands wander down the hard planes of muscles until I reached the hem of his boxers. Leaving his mouth I placed light, butterfly kisses in a trail down his chest and stomach until my mouth was at the hem of his boxers as well.

I smirked against the soft skin of his stomach when I slowly pulled the boxers down and threw them on the floor and when I nuzzled the skin near his hipbone I felt his breath hitch. As I inched closer and closer to my destination, his breathing became more and more uneven and when I was hovering right above his head, I don´t think he breathed at all.

I allowed a feather light kiss land on top of the head before I licked him from the root to the tip. Precum had already gathered at the small slit on the head and the slightly salty taste was better than I remembered it to be.

Deidara let out a groan of pleasure when I finally took him into my mouth, taking in as much of him as I could handle. What didn´t fit in my mouth was engulfed by my hand and I felt Deidara´s hands entangle themselves in my hair. I allowed him to do that and started bobbing my head up and down while matching the movements with my hand.

I let my tongue swirl around the head at the same time and Deidara groaned again, his hands tightening their hold in my hair. I tried to swallow once with him deep in me but then he pulled me away from him and spun us around once again, making him be the one on top.

"Enough teasing, now it´s my turn." He told me with a mischievous smile on his lips and I felt both the fire in my belly and the blush on my face heat up even more.

He kissed me on the mouth both deeply and thoroughly before following my example, placing light butterfly kisses down my neck and chest, pausing to give my breasts plenty of attention before he continued down my stomach.

I expected him to pause when he reached the hem of my panties but he didn´t, instead he continued down over the fabric, making me gasp for breath before continuing the trail of kisses down the inside my thigh. He stopped at my knee and switched to my other leg, making the same journey upwards this time.

But this time he skipped my most sensitive area completely and I let out a sound that was something between a moan and a whine.

"Deidara please! Stop teasing me, I need you…" He gave away a low chuckle but disposed of my panties and finally gave my center some of the attention it craved. His mouth found the small pearl of nerves while two of his fingers found my opening, beginning to prepare me.

I moaned and whined and squirmed underneath him, making him place his free hand across my belly to keep me still while he continued the sweet torture.

"Deidara… I´m going to… I´m going to…" I tried to tell him in a breathless voice, between moans and gasps for breath.

He didn´t answer me, he didn´t stop either so I let one of my hands grab a hold of the sheets while the other found its way into his blonde locks. And then I fell apart and the world disappeared for a moment in a bright white light.

* * *

When I came back to the world, Deidara´s face was hovering over my own; his weight held up on his forearms and his blue eyes shining in the dark and totally focused on me.

When I moved to lock my arms around his neck, I felt that he was positioned at my entrance, only waiting for me to come down from my high before he entered me. He pushed inside of me in one strong, fluid movement and I was suddenly reminded of exactly how much time had passed since I had last enjoyed the wonders of sex when the pleasure his intrusion gave me was accompanied by a burning pain.

I felt myself tense up and my nails dug into Deidara´s shoulders while my eyes fell shut and I had to concentrate just to breathe.

"Oh damn…" Deidara whispered and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I´m sorry Sakura but I really didn´t think that I would hurt you."

"It´s fine, I´m fine." I whispered back, loving the feeling of his gentle hands that caressed my body wherever they could reach. "It´s just that it has been a while since I did this and you´re not exactly small…"

He chuckled again and since he was joined with me, I felt it to and it made me moan a little. Deidara took that as a positive sign and started moving with small, gentle movements, slowly building the pleasure higher as the pain disappeared.

I clutched at his shoulders again, this time from the pleasure overwhelming me and small moans started to escape from my mouth. He picked up both his speed and force and the friction that was created between our bodies felt amazing.

I was getting close to my second release when he suddenly stopped and pulled out of me. I whined at the feeling of loss and tried to pull him back inside me but he stayed out of my reach.

"Easy there Sakura… There´s no need to rush things; we have all night to play…" He told me before shifting me so that I was lying on my stomach instead. He placed a pillow underneath my hips and then eased himself back inside of me from behind.

The change in positions intensified the feelings of pleasure and while he slowly eased himself inside me, I let out a low, long moan and tried to push myself up from the bed to gain some leverage to be able to push back against him.

But he didn´t let me do that and wrapped one arm around the upper part of my chest, above my breasts, holding my arms against my sides. His other hand sneaked in between my body and the mattress, quickly finding the small bundle of nerves that made me trash even more in his hold.

"Deidara… please…" I begged him when he didn´t move and instead stayed still inside of me, pinning my body to the bed with his own, not a millimeter of space in between us, his fingers leisurely playing with my pearl of nerves.

"Please what? Tell me what you want Sakura." He purred in my ear and latched on to my neck, sucking on the pale skin, surely leaving a mark.

"I… I want… I need… you to start moving…" I got out between gasps for breath and moans of pleasure. His lower body started to move, slowly pulling out of me only to push back in again with super slow and way to gentle movements compared to what I had hoped for.

"Like this?" Deidara asked me when he let go of my neck and I could hear the smirk in his voice. He knew that this wasn´t what I had meant and he enjoyed it.

"Harder… Faster…" I begged and he moved both harder and faster, just not hard or fast enough.

"Like this?" He asked again and I could hear in his labored breathing that he was starting to have problems controlling himself. It wasn´t going to take much to make him lose control, I could feel that in the tightness of his muscles.

"More… Oh Kami more…" I begged desperately and he complied, making me reach my second high for the night. But when I was at my peak and believed that he was about to follow me, he stopped moving entirely and allowed me to ride out the waves of pure bliss that echoed through my body.

His body was tense as a bowstring and the feeling of his stiff body on top of my shivering one made goose bumps erupt over my skin. I squirmed under him and he moved both of his hands to my hips to keep me still.

"Don´t. Move. Or I´ll come." He warned me and dug his fingers into my hips. It didn't hurt but it told me exactly how close he was and for some reason he had decided that he didn´t want to come yet.

"Then why don´t you?" I asked him, looking over my shoulder at his face and wiggled my ass as much as I was allowed to by his hands. He gritted his teeth and sent me a glare that made the still lingering pleasure once again rise in my body.

"Because I don´t want to… not yet." He answered and while he still refused to let me move, he bent down and placed a row of kisses down my spine.

But suddenly he moved us again, turning me around so that I was once again on my back. He lifted my legs so that they were resting over his shoulders before he leaned down and locked his lips to mine.

While his tongue danced around in my mouth with mine, his hips started moving again and we soon had to break apart to prevent passing out from lack of oxygen.

His hands were holding onto my hips and he was pounding into me forcefully and with a steady rhythm. My hands searched for something to hold on to in the sheets and my body was covered in a fine sheen of sweat from our activities.

It didn´t take long before I was moaning again but I could tell that Deidara was much closer to release than I was. But when his speed and force increased yet another notch, I felt my inwardly fire coming back to life with a roar.

But it still wasn´t enough.

In the few moments before Deidara´s release overcame him and made him lose control completely, he pinched my clit. Hard. And the combination of pain and pleasure along with his intense pounding made my third orgasm for the night take over my body.

I wasn´t prepared for the intense pleasure that was assaulting my senses and a scream almost escaped from my lips and would have done so unless Deidara had silenced it with a kiss.

Then his own orgasm hit and while he lost his rhythm, his speed got even faster, something I would have thought impossible. I clung to him and simply allowed all the different feelings to ravage freely in my body.

Deidara´s arms gave in and he sank back down onto my body. I knew that he would be afraid that he was too heavy for me, so I locked my arms around his chest to hold him in place as the two of us got back down to earth.

"That was worth waiting for, yeah…" Deidara whispered when his breathing had calmed down and he rolled off of me to lie beside me instead.

"Yeah but had I known it would be like this we would have done this much sooner…" I whispered back and turned over on my side, my back facing Deidara.

"I´m glad you think so, yeah…" Deidara responded with a yawn and pulled me back against him, my back against his front once again.

"We should really put our underwear back on… What if someone comes in here in the morning?" I said sleepily but Deidara only tightened his hold possessively on me, clearly not letting me go right now.

"Screw them I´m not getting up just for that and neither are you… Just go to sleep Sakura, worry about the others in the morning…" He told me and with his quiet breathing in my ear and the warmth from his hand splayed out over my stomach it would be really easy to fall asleep despite what had happened during the day.

"Fine but if Sasori or Hidan walks in here tomorrow because we are late for breakfast you can deal with them…" I mumbled and snuggled deeper into my pillow and Deidara´s embrace.

"Sure, sure…" Deidara whispered back but by then I was already asleep.

* * *

So... Let me know what you think? Was the lemon to detailed?

**Question: You´re having sex for the first time, who would you want it to be with?**

That´s a really tricky question for me, since I want most of the akatsuki... But for the very first time i think that Deidara, Sasori in his human body or Itachi would be a great experience. I really love Hidan but he might be a little rough and Kisame and Kakuzu are most likely bigger than most...

Love C


	9. Chapter 9 - Shots fired!

I do not own Naruto

* * *

**My life on the line**

_Chapter 9 - Shots fired!_

* * *

**Warning: **Lemon in this one people

* * *

The next morning I woke up feeling sore, both from the extensive running I did the day before and from the late night activities Deidara and I had indulged in.

But I didn´t mind…

Deidara had me wrapped up in his arms like I was his most precious teddy bear and he was afraid to lose me. I loved the feeling.

But the peace in my bedroom didn´t last, suddenly there was banging on the door and Kakuzu's voice drifted through to us.

"Deidara, Sakura, get up. We have a situation."

Deidara was immediately awake and fully functioning while I only blinked slowly, trying to get a grip on what was going on. Deidara got off the bed still as naked as he was last night and he pulled me off the bed and dragged me with him into the shower.

Since I was still only half awake he washed both himself and me and all too soon for my taste, he turned the water off and dragged me out again. He handed me a towel which I used to dry myself off with before I stumbled back into the bedroom and dressed myself, finally starting to move on my own.

I made it to the kitchen where Kakuzu put a cup of coffee in my hands before direction me down into a chair next to Hidan.

"I don´t drink coffee." I told them and frowned at the cup sitting innocently in my hands.

"I know." Kakuzu answered. "But I need you awake and functioning as fast as possible, shit are going down and we can´t leave you here by yourself."

Now I was starting to worry, what was really happening here? I looked down at the coffee in my hands and took a small, hesitant sip of the bitter, black liquid. It tasted horribly and that´s why I normally didn´t drink the stuff but since something was clearly going on, I forced the stuff down my throat.

When everyone was assembled, Kakuzu started explaining the situation.

"We have gotten tips on two locations where Orochimaru and Mebuki are supposed to be at in two hours, obviously at least one of them is wrong but we are not in a position where we can ignore any tips like this. I believe that they are watching us, since two tips like this comes in when we only have two teams assembled." Kakuzu paused to give the information some time to sink in before continuing.

"I believe that they are expecting us to investigate the tips and leave Sakura alone in the apartment. Because of that she´s coming with us out on the field, it´s easier to protect her if we have her with us than if she´s alone in the apartment."

Kakuzu's decision got some protesting from both Deidara and Sasori, it was obviously clear that they didn´t want me anywhere near something that could be potentially dangerous.

But Hidan was quiet next to me and I realized that while he didn´t want me in danger either, it was even more dangerous to allow me to stay here and if someone were to stay with me, one of the tips would be left uninvestigated.

I wanted my mother and Orochimaru stopped more than I wanted to be safe.

"I´m going with you." I said out loud, ending the quickly heated discussion between Sasori, Deidara and Kakuzu.

"Are you insane?! It´s too dangerous Sakura…" Sasori began but I interrupted him.

"I know that it´s dangerous I´m not an idiot. But if we hesitate now we might miss a really good chance at stopping one or both of them and then I might never be safe…"

My words were directed at Sasori but I was looking Deidara straight in the eyes the entire time I spoke. It was really important for me to get him to understand this… That I rather put myself in more danger now than having to live with a threat against my life for as long as I managed to evade their assassination attempts.

I saw in his blue depths that while he didn´t approve of it, he understood it and his shoulders sagged a bit before he turned towards Sasori who was getting ready to argue more with me and said.

"Drop it Sasori… We don´t have to like it but she´s right." He then turned his gaze on me and said with a small smile and sadness in his eyes.

"But if you don´t come back to me I´ll never forgive you." And with that he and Sasori disappeared to get ready to go to one of the places where my mother and Orochimaru might turn up.

In that moment I realized that I would be going with Hidan and Kakuzu and while I was worried out of my mind for Deidara and Sasori, I understood why I couldn´t go with them.

Since one of them was my boyfriend and the other my newly found half-brother, they would try and protect me to the point where they wouldn´t be able to concentrate on their jobs and that´s when mistakes are made and people get hurt.

They got ready quickly and then left, leaving Kakuzu, Hidan and I to prepare ourselves as well. I was so nervous that I felt nauseous as I followed Kakuzu and Hidan to the equipment room in their office downstairs.

My hands were shaking a little but I tried to hide it by tightening them into fists. Hidan went off to get himself ready but Kakuzu stayed with me, equipping me with a Kevlar vest and a gun in a thigh holster. He helped me strap on the vest so that it was tight and secure and then he watched me as I strapped on the holster and checked the magazine and safety on the gun.

"Are we ready to go?" Hidan asked us and Kakuzu nodded before herding me in the direction of the elevator. As the elevator door closed behind us I noticed that neither of them was wearing any Kevlar vests, it made me worry so I asked them.

"How come I´m the only one wearing a Kevlar vest? Why don´t you guys wear them to?"

"It´s not us the Sound want dead." Was Hidans explanation and while I accepted it, I didn´t like it. I had a bad feeling about this but there was nothing I could do about it, I knew they wouldn´t listen to me.

We climbed into one of the explorers that were left, Kakuzu behind the wheel and Hidan in the front passenger seat. I took my usual place in the backseat and then we were off.

I just hoped that everyone would come out of this alive and unharmed.

* * *

Two hours later I was starting to wonder if everything had been a trick just to get us out of the building. There had been no signs of my mother, Orochimaru or any Sound gang members and I was starting to lose hope that we would see anything at all.

We were sitting in the car, watching a small two-story house for any movements at all and I was bored out of my mind. I had long since abandoned the nervousness and was now imagining what could be hidden inside the house.

Was it a normal family home? With a father that worked and a mother that stayed home with their three children, a dog and a cat fulfilling their roles as pets. Or was it a home where the father was beating the mother, making the children cry and cover their ears as they had to listen to the fights that occurred almost every night?

Were the inhabitants an elderly couple? Having been together for almost all of their lives, raising two nice children into well-behaved adults that gave them plenty of grand children to love and spoil? Or was it an old woman living there? Her husband passed away since many years and her only child living far away never seeing her? Her only company a few cat´s and a bird in a cage?

My imagination was running wild and I blame it for not making me notice the black SUV when it first turned the corner and drove down the street we were parked on. But the boys did notice the car and the rising tension was what made me realize that something was about to happen.

I looked up just as the SUV drove passed us and one second everything was quiet and calm and the next one was a lot of noise and confusing chaos.

Someone in the other car had opened fire at us. Glass was shattered, metal was screeching and it was pure instincts that saved me from a bullet in the head. When the first bullet was fired I had ducked down to the floor and was waiting for the shooting to stop so that I could see what was going on.

But suddenly the car started moving and I looked up enough to see that Kakuzu was driving us away from the shooting car. Hidan turned around in his seat to check on me and I saw a small trickle of blood making its way down the side of his head.

"Are you alright Sakura?" He asked me and I answered.

"Yeah I´m fine." Then the rear windshield shattered and I took a peek over the edge of the seat to see that the black SUV was following us. I heard Hidan swear and then he moved to the backseat as well, he pulled his gun and started to shoot back at the car behind us, aiming for the tires.

I was just about to draw my own weapon and help him when I heard Kakuzu shout a warning and then something collided with the side of our car.

The sound of metal screaming hurt my ears and my body was thrown around like a rag-doll, boneless and tangled with Hidan. Then everything came to a stop and for a moment everything was completely silent.

"Are you two okay?" I heard Kakuzu ask from the front, the car had come to a stop lying on the roof so he was working to get free from the seatbelt that held him upside down.

"I´m alright." Hidan answered and got up on all fours since he had landed mostly on top of me. "Sakura?"

"I think I´m fine…" I answered a little dazed and sat up as well, checking myself for broken bones or other serious injuries. I didn´t find any so I followed Hidan when he crawled out of the car through where the now broken rear windshield used to be.

But as soon as Hidan and I stood up outside the car, we realized that it had been a bad idea.

"Hands where we can see them and no sudden movements!" a man ordered us harshly while pointing a gun at us and I did my best to memorize his appearance. He had silvery hair that was a few shades darker than Hidans and not nearly as pretty… He had dark eyes hidden behind round glasses and his face was hard and angular.

Hidan and I booth did as he said, hoping that Kakuzu would be able to help us when he got loose. One man stripped Hidan of his weapons and another did the same to me. I closed my eyes as his hands moved over my body, touching places I didn´t want him to touch but allowed anyway.

I heard Hidan let out a low, growling sound when he saw the way they treated me but there was nothing he could do to help me either. It was soon over though and I decided not to dwell on it. Two other men pulled Kakuzu from the car wreckage and I felt the hopes of being able to come out of this alive sink even more.

The silver haired one that was clearly the leader for this little group stepped closer to me and pushed a gun against my throat as he leaned closer to really look at my face.

"My, my, my… Isn´t this the little bitch that our king and queen wants dead?"

He was way too close to me for my liking and I swallowed nervously but refused to look away from his searching stare, I wasn´t going to show him any fear.

"Ha! The bitch has an attitude as well, who would have known…" He said but trailed off to lean even closer to me. He would regret that though. When he was close enough I head-butted him with everything I had and he stumbled back, howling in pain and with his hand pressed against his now broken nose.

"I don´t like being called bitch." I said casually and watched his struggle with a small smile playing on my lips. I hadn´t intended for it to be a distraction so that Hidan and Kakuzu could try and get free but that was what happened anyway.

They quickly got loose from the people holding them and I noticed from the corner of my eye that Hidan pressed the panic button that would alert all the other members that we needed help immediately.

I tried to get free as well but the man holding me had me in a grip that I didn´t knew how to break. And all too soon the leader was back on his feet and stalking towards me, a furious look in his eyes.

He backhanded me and I knew that he would leave a bruise on my cheekbone. Everything was in chaos around me, Hidan and Kakuzu fighting against two people each and then there was the man holding me and the leader left.

I did my best to keep the leaders attention on me, hoping that the boys would be able to take the others down before he had enough and decided to kill me.

Suddenly his gun was once again pressed against my body, this time to my chest, and he asked me.

"Should I kill you now? When your friends are too busy to help you? I wonder how their faces would look when they realized that they had failed to protect you…"

"Why don´t you shoot me then and find out!" I replied angrily, losing control over my temper for a moment. He looked at me and if I had to put it down to just one emotion, I would say that he was surprised.

"You´re not afraid of death? How stupid of you. Well you´re no fun to tease then…"

"Don´t pretend to act like you wasn´t going to shoot me either way." I bit out, still angry.

"Oh you don´t have to worry, I will kill you. But since you´re not afraid of death… I might just shoot one of your friends here, just to have some fun." He said with a sick smile and moved the gun away from my chest, aiming for the middle of Hidans back instead.

Since Hidan was standing with his back towards us, he didn´t see the impending danger and when I noticed the leader's fingers twitching, I realized that he really was going to shoot Hidan.

And I couldn´t stand the thought of that.

Letting my instincts take over, I head-butted the man standing behind me before slamming my elbow in his gut, making him release me.

And then I jumped in front of the gun just as the trigger was pulled.

My body flew backwards when the bullet collided with the Kevlar vest that I was hiding underneath my clothes and I felt the air leave my lungs on the impact. My back hit Hidans chest, since he had turned around in time to see me throwing myself in front of the gun.

He caught me and at the same time I heard another two shots being fired, this time coming from behind me. I noticed that the man holding me went down, as did the silver haired leader but then I stopped caring about them.

I couldn´t breathe.

There was no air in my lungs and my body seemed paralyzed, not being able to draw in more. Everything was pain and I wondered briefly if the bullet had gone through the vest and into my chest anyway.

Hidans arms supported me and he laid me down on my back on the ground before tearing my clothes apart, frantically searching for blood or injuries.

Then my lungs started working again and I drew in a much needed wheezing breath of air. The panic in Hidans violet eyes eased up and he exclaimed in relief.

"Thank Jashin… The bullet didn´t pierce the vest…" He leaned down and placed his forehead against mine for a moment before he sat back up and grasped my hands that were trying to get the vest off in hopes that the pain would ease up.

"Don´t move Sakura, the pain will ease faster if you don´t move. I know it hurts like hell but stay still and concentrate on breathing for now. We don´t know if you have any cracked or broken ribs from that and I don´t want you to collapse a lung."

I stilled my movements and Hidan continued to talk to me about nothing and everything until the pain became bearable and I felt like I could breathe properly again.

Kakuzu had checked every one of the group attacking us and while the four that the two of them had fought was unconscious, the man holding me and the leader was dead.

After he had made sure that there was no one left that could harm us he kneeled next to me as well and I opened one of my eyes to look at him.

"That was something I had hoped to never have to see, you taking a bullet for one of us. How are you feeling Sakura?"

"I was wearing a vest, you two wasn´t. Hurts like hell but I can breathe again." I answered in short sentences to avoid having to take large breaths.

"As long as you can breathe normally… That means that your lungs weren´t damaged and your ribs wasn´t broken. You might have cracked a few though…" Kakuzu said, relief in his voice before he and Hidan helped me up to a standing position.

I had to have both of them supporting me to be able to stay upright, and even then I was standing hunched over. Since all of us had some cuts and bruises from the car crashing as well as from the fighting beforehand, we looked really bad.

We hobbled over to the car and Kakuzu left Hidan and I leaning against the wreck while he crawled back in the car to look for the first aid kit. He had just crawled back out when another black ford explorer came to a screeching stop close to us and Sasori and Deidara left the car and hurried over to us.

Kakuzu held the two of them back long enough to explain what had happened so that they didn´t do anything stupid. Like trying to hug me.

Their faces turned grim when he got to the part where I had saved Hidan from a bullet through the chest and I could see that both of them got worried, in fact, all four of them were. But since I was breathing relatively normal and the bullet hadn´t gone through the vest, they all knew that I would be fine eventually and that there was no need for panic.

Since both Kakuzu and Hidan were a little banged up, Deidara and Sasori took over helping me walk to their car so that we all could get home and take care of our injuries.

I was placed in the middle of the backseat, Hidan on one side of me and Deidara on the other, Kakuzu in the front passenger seat and Sasori behind the wheel. As we started the drive home I allowed my head to fall onto Deidara´s shoulder, one of my hands pressed against the vest that combined with my bra was the only thing covering my chest from being exposed since Hidan had ripped my clothes, trying to ease the pain.

I felt him press a kiss over my right ear and he asked me in a whisper that only I could hear.

"Are you going to be alright Blossom?" I nodded a little but stayed silent, too tired to speak. Somewhere after that I fell asleep, feeling safe sitting in between my boyfriend and one of my best male friends. And there was no doubt in my mind that Hidan and I wouldn´t become as close as two people could get without being related or in a relationship, all of the Akatsuki had somehow reached the same place in my heart that earlier had belonged to only Sasuke, Naruto and my father.

* * *

I woke up when Sasori turned off the car engine in the parking garage of our building. I felt a weight on my left shoulder and looked that way to see that Hidan had been sleeping during the car ride back as well. I looked to my right and saw that Deidara was awake and unbuckling his seatbelt to get out of the car.

I poked Hidan on the head and watched as his mesmerizing amethyst eyes slowly opened and focused on me.

"We´re home." I told him simply and he sat up straight, allowing me my movement back. I moved slowly but got out of the car on my own. Hidan, Kakuzu and I all managed to get in the elevator with some help from Sasori and Deidara.

The ride up was silent and when the doors opened, Kisame and Zetzu were standing there, their faces taking on shocked and worried expressions as they noticed what condition we were in.

I was leaning heavily on Deidara, my hand still clutching at my chest with a slightly pained expression on my face and my clothes ripped to shreds. Sasori supported both Hidan and Kakuzu who both looked tired and beaten up, I guessed that they started to feel the effects of crashing with the car just as I did.

"What in the world happened?" Kisame asked as he took over supporting Kakuzu and Zetzu took over supporting Hidan so that Sasori could take a place on my other side.

"They were ambushed, the car crashed and then they had to fight against six sound members, Sakura took a bullet in the vest that would have killed Hidan had it hit him." Sasori explained and asked Zetzu and Kisame to look over Kakuzu and Hidan and to get him if they found anything serious, leaving him able to concentrate on me.

Kisame and Zetzu nodded before all four of them hobbled away, leaving Sasori, Deidara and I to do the same. The boy´s took me to the room that I shared with Deidara and Sasori told him to watch me as he fetched his first aid kit.

Deidara helped me sit on the edge of the bed before kneeling in front of me and asking with real worry in his eyes.

"Are you really alright Blossom?" I smiled at him and tried to reassure him.

"Yeah I am. It hurts like hell but I have no trouble breathing except for deep breaths because of the pain, I´ll be fine don´t worry." He gave me a weak smile but it was obvious that he still worried about me.

It didn´t take long for Sasori to come back though, and when he did the two of them helped out of my shredded clothes and the vest with the bullet in, leaving me in only my pants and bra.

I was thankful that the bra was one of my prettier ones, but not one of the slutty looking ones.

My entire chest was in pain and when the vest came off, I could stop wondering why. My entire chest was one giant bruise, painted in different hues of black, blue and purple. Sasori went over all of my ribs carefully and despite the skin tenderness, I didn´t feel any intense pain that could indicate a cracked or broken rib.

But when he felt down my sternum, I yelped and he got a worried frown on his forehead as he did it again, gentler this time. I still winced though and after a lot of painful poking and prodding, Sasori concluded that I probably had gotten a crack in my sternum.

"Is it dangerous? Should she go to the hospital?" Deidara asked and ignored the glare he got from me when he mentioned visiting the hospital.

"There´s nothing the hospital can do, except for keeping her under observation until the bone starts to heal and we can do that here as well. As long as she doesn't have trouble breathing, there´s nothing to worry about." Sasori assured him and after they exchanged another few words, Sasori left us so that we could take a shower before finding some food.

Deidara helped me into the bathroom and he turned on the water before helping me out of the rest of my clothes. I stood underneath the spray of water, supporting myself against the wall, watching Deidara as he undressed in front of my eyes.

I knew it was crazy when I had gotten hurt like this but I couldn´t help myself. The sight of his muscular and lightly tanned body being revealed in front of my eyes was turning me on.

He joined me in the shower and immediately went down to business, cleaning both my body and his. He washed my hair next before he washed his own and then we just stood close together underneath the hot spray of water, relishing in the contact of skin on skin with the other.

He was standing behind me, his hands holding on to me both gently and protectively. I felt something hard and silky smooth poke my backside and when I shifted to get more of the feeling Deidara released a groan and momentarily tightened his grip on me, pushing against me.

"Dammit Sakura we can´t do this now… you´re hurt." He said and backed away from me, making me turn around so that I could look at his when I begged him.

"Please Deidara… I need you… I tell you if it hurts my chest, I promise." He sighed but stepped closer again, cupping my face in his hands and pressing a kiss to my forehead before whispering.

"I just don´t want to hurt you…" He then pressed his lips to mine in a gentle kiss before allowing his hands to move over my water-slicked skin eliciting pleasure in a way that only he was able to.

When I felt him press at my entrance I moaned in pleasure and was silenced by another gentle kiss from his lips. Everything was much gentler than last night, bringing pleasure in a whole other way. He moved so carefully in me, was so gentle in his touches and the sensation was so agonizing sweet that I almost started to cry.

I knew that he did it mostly because he was afraid of hurting me but that he was capable of giving me such bittersweet pleasure almost blew my mind. All too soon and yet not soon enough, I felt the explosion of an orgasm rock my body and then the pleasure hit, rolling in like tidal waves, sweeping me away.

I faintly realized that Deidara was climaxing as well but the power of my own release pushed everything else away for the moment and when I came to again, it was to Deidara´s eyes searching mine and his shaft still inside of me. I was still pushed up against the shower wall, Deidara´s hands supporting my weight as we were joined at the hips.

"Can you still breathe alright?" He asked me worriedly and when I told him yes, he sighed in relief and rested his forehead against mine for a moment before pulling out of me slowly.

I gasped at the sensation and when he put me down I found my legs wobbly and unsteady still. He supported me with an arm around my waist as he turned the water off and then wrapped me in a towel. He dried himself off before he helped me doing the same and then he took me to the bedroom and helped me get dressed.

In clean underwear and a pajama much like the one with panda´s on, except this one was decorated with owls instead and Deidara dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt, we made our way out to the kitchen in search for food.

All the others were already gathered in the kitchen and there were a few boxes on the table that indicated that we were having Chinese take-out. Deidara helped me down on a chair before fetching both of us something to drink.

Both Kakuzu and Hidan looked much better after a shower and I figured that the same could be said for me as well. We ate in silence, everybody was exhausted and right now it didn´t feel like we were having much success in stopping Sound and my mother.

* * *

The next morning was sheer agony on my part, every time I moved my chest hurt. Sasori and Deidara had gone out with Kisame and Zetzu to get some work done but Kakuzu, Hidan and I were staying in the apartment for now.

I had manage to dress myself in black sweatpants and a white, short-sleeved, button up shirt that really belonged to Deidara but that I had borrowed because it was easy to get on. I had on a sports bra underneath so that I could leave the shirt unbuttoned if the buttons was going to hurt the tender skin on my chest.

I managed to get myself to the kitchen where I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before slowly walking off to the living room where I could hear that Hidan and Kakuzu were.

When they saw me enter the room, both of their eyes immediately locked on me and then never left as I slowly closed the distance between us.

"How are you feeling?" Kakuzu asked and I grimaced before telling him.

"I´ll be alright."

"Can I see?" Hidan asked me suddenly and I stopped and stared at him in surprise, not entirely sure what he meant. He looked up at me and I saw something in his eyes that I couldn´t decipher, could it have been guilt? And then he asked again, clarifying.

"Can I see the damage?"

"Sure…" I answered, shooting Kakuzu a surprised look before unbuttoning the shirt, leaving it open for the two boys to see my black and blue chest.

Hidan winced and Kakuzu grimaced in sympathy, before saying out loud.

"I´m still surprised that you didn´t crack any ribs…" I looked at him in surprise and asked him.

"Didn´t Sasori tell you? I might´ve not cracked any of my ribs but I did manage to crack my sternum." The silence that overtook the room told me that maybe it had been a bad idea to tell them that, but hey, they did ask.

They would surely have time to accept that I had gotten hurt though, it seemed as if I would suffer from this for a while. And while I could accept having nothing to do for a while, it made me worry more about Itachi.

I just hoped that he would get his memories back.

* * *

Please let me know what you think!

Love C


	10. Chapter 10 - The return of things lost

I do not own Naruto

* * *

**My life on the line**

_Chapter ten – The return of things lost_

* * *

Two weeks.

Two entire weeks had passed without anything happening. No new clues as to where Orochimaru and my mother resided, no new Sound gang incidents. No news from Japan.

It was driving me crazy.

The pain in my chest had eased up a lot and now it only hurt when something bumped into me, a few days ago I had begun to run again and now it was the only thing keeping me sane.

Hidan and Kakuzu had been back on the field, working after only a few days of rest but I still wasn´t allowed out. Pein had been livid when he heard that I had taken a bullet to the chest and cracked my sternum despite wearing one of the bulletproof vests.

I believe that he told the others to not let me out again until he came back home.

I was sitting at the kitchen table, pushing the food on my plate from one side to the other while the other six guy´s ate like they might never get any more food in their lives.

I knew that I was sinking back into depression but I didn´t want to burden Deidara or the others with my problems. They had so much to do because of me…

I excused myself and left the kitchen, going back to the bedroom I shared with Deidara. I lay down on my back on the bed and closed my eyes, relaxing into the soft mattress.

I knew they were worrying about me now.

I wasn´t eating enough, and I ran on the treadmill at least once a day, the exhaustion in my body the only thing keeping me in control. I wanted another piercing, I wanted another tattoo.

I wanted pain.

I rolled over on my side and curled up in a fetus position, I knew that someone was going to stop me from running soon if I didn´t start eating like normal again. I knew that I made them worry about me. But I didn´t have an appetite, all I did now that I wasn´t allowed to help them was worrying about them, about Itachi and Naruto and Sasuke in Japan, and about when the next attempt on my life would be.

There was a knock on the door at the same time my cellphone went off, signaling that someone was calling me. I yelled at the one behind the door to come in before I picked up my phone and answering it.

"Hello?" The door opened and Sasori and Deidara entered the room, serious expressions on their faces. When they saw that I was on the phone they kept quiet though and took a seat on the bed as well, waiting for my call to end before bringing up the reason for their sudden visit.

_"Sakura it´s me, Konan. How are things back home?"_

"Boring, since I´m not allowed out anymore." I answered her emotionlessly, knowing that Pein was most likely listening in on the call and because right now I was angry with him.

If only I was allowed out with the teams like I had been before, I would have had something to keep my mind busy and then I wouldn´t have time to worry as much and by default not be on the verge of depression.

_"I´m sorry that you feel that way… But I have news that should make you feel better!"_

"Oh really? Tell me then."

I could hear that she really was sorry that I wasn´t allowed to do practically anything, she must´ve understood that I felt like I was going crazy or perhaps she had also gotten a call from the boys left in the apartment with me.

I knew that all of them had called Pein at least one time, begging him to let me come with them again. They had seen the bad effects this had on me and while they understood Pein´s need to keep me safe, they realized that I was going to do something stupid sooner or later if things didn´t change as well.

_"We´re coming home. Itachi has gotten his memories back."_

I felt my eyes widen and then a bright, genuine smile appeared on my face, startling the two boys that were watching me intently. Happy tears gathered in my eyes and I handed the phone to Sasori, I didn´t need to hear anymore.

Itachi was coming home.

* * *

During the three day wait until Pein, Konan and Itachi reached the apartment, I was completely changed. The approaching depression was blown away and I was constantly moving around, but I didn´t run on the treadmill even once. I simply didn´t have time for that.

No I was cleaning the entire apartment, wanting it to be clean and look inviting when Konan and Itachi came back, had it been only Pein returning I probably wouldn´t have bothered, I was still angry with him after all.

When there was no more cleaning to be done, I took over the kitchen, making everything from cookies to cakes to full course meals just to have something to occupy myself with.

And because of that, I was asleep when they came back, taking a nap in my room.

But when I woke up from my nap and saw Itachi sitting next to me on the bed, the reaction came immediately. I blinked once and then launched myself at him, colliding with his chest and pushing him down on his back on the bed with me on top of him.

The impact had made my chest hurt though and I pressed one hand against my still healing sternum bone while the other was wrapped tightly around Itachi's neck, refusing to let him go.

"You came back…" I whispered as if I still had trouble believing it.

"Of course I came back." He said confidently and I could see that the time with his family and especially his little brother had done him some good. He had needed that.

I sat up next to him and asked him, a little hesitantly, the incident in the kitchen popping up in my mind.

"And you remember me now?"

He closed his eyes and I realized that he remembered the incident in the kitchen, just as I had done a moment ago. When he opened them again, they were shining with held back tears and he assured me.

"Yeah I remember you now… I´m really sorry for what I did."

His eyes closed again and the tears escaped silently from them, the picture of him crying like that, completely silently and with closed eyes, it almost broke my heart.

I curled up next to him, wrapping my arms around his body and allowing my head to rest against his shoulder. And while his tears didn´t stop, his arms came around me as well, holding me against him.

"It´s okay Itachi… Don´t think about what happened then, everything turned out alright and it wasn´t your fault."

"That may be so, but I still did something unforgivable. I put you in danger…" He whispered into my hair and I tightened my arms around him before telling him.

"It was not unforgivable; I forgave you directly after it had happened. And I´m in danger constantly since we can´t seem to solve the problem with my mother and Orochimaru. The last encounter I had with them, when Pein still allowed me to do something, we managed to kill Orochimaru´s right hand Kabuto though…"

That made the tears finally stop and he looked at me with confusion in his eyes.

"What do you mean 'when Pein still allowed you to do something'? Aren´t you still going with the teams?"

"No." I mumbled into his chest. "Not since I took a bullet in the vest and cracked my sternum… But what was I supposed to do?! He was going to kill Hidan, I had to do something."

"You… What?" Itachi got out, a shocked expression on his face. I took one look at him before sitting up and leaving his embrace.

"Oh don´t look at me like that, I was wearing a Kevlar vest and they didn´t. Had I been a member no one would have thought my behavior strange so why is it just because I am not?"

Itachi sat up next to me as well and put a hand to his forehead before he shook it slowly and said.

"Wait, slow down a little, Pein haven´t asked you to join?"

Now it was my turn to look at Itachi with confusion in my eyes.

"What are you talking about? Why would he do that?"

"Oh dear Kami what a mess… He, Sasori and I had all agreed on asking you to join us, you have excellent instincts, great skills and a way of thinking that the rest of us doesn´t have. Everyone agreed that having you as our teammate would be great for our success rate. Not to mention that all of us adore having you here, you give all of us some happiness in our lives and from what I´ve heard from the others, Deidara more so than the others."

I felt myself blush and Itachi smiled, but then I realized what he had told me and anger consumed me instead.

"So what you´re trying to tell me is that I could have been a member a long time ago but that Pein for one reason or another decided not to follow the plan, not even giving me the choice to make the decision myself?" Itachi's eyes widened when he realized what was about to happen but before he could stop me I stood from the bed and stalked towards the door, saying.

"I´ll take your silence as a yes." I then I slammed the door behind me.

My feet took me to Pein´s office despite my mind not being entirely sure on what to do. But I was so angry and sad and my thoughts were all jumbled, making me act on instinct and with my heart instead of with my head.

I slammed the door open and thankfully he was alone in the room, otherwise I might never have gotten the courage to say.

"How dare you make that decision for me?! I might be your half-sister but you do not rule over me! I am twenty-two years old and can make my decisions thank you very much. But if this is how it´s going to be, then you can find someone else to make decisions for."

And with that I slammed the door shut again and for the first time in forever, left the building alone.

* * *

I knew it had been a bad idea from the start, but I was thinking with my heart and my feelings and not with my brain.

I walked down another street in silence, rain had started to pour down an hour or so ago and I was completely drenched. Thankfully we were in the middle of the summer, so at least it wasn´t cold.

I had gotten my thoughts back under control after an hour of mindless walking and realized that running away like this wasn´t going to solve the problem. What I should have done was talking to the others, finding out how many of them that new about it and what they thought of it.

I couldn´t force them to accept me as one of them but I could sure as hell make them leave the decision of whether or not I wanted to join them to be mine.

After coming to that conclusion I realized that I should probably head back, they were most likely worried about me and who knew where the Sound gang members that wanted me dead could be.

But then I realized that I was lost, and the rain started.

I took another left turn, hoping to find something that I recognized but all I could see was an endlessly long street that promised nothing more than more rain and tired feet.

I sighed heavily but started walking anyway; there was nothing else I could do. I had left my phone in my room and even if I did find somewhere where I could borrow one, I still didn´t know the numbers in my head.

So I focused on putting one foot in front of the other and when I looked up again I was on the middle of a bridge that I might, or might not have crossed earlier. I looked down at the river that passed by nearly fifty feet below; it looked rather peaceful in a way… Despite the water being a dark grey, looking cold and uninviting I felt a serenity I had never felt before when looking down at it.

The sounds of tires coming to a screeching halt made me turn around, believing that it was someone from the Akatsuki finally finding me.

It wasn´t.

The car that had stopped on the road behind me was a little red convertible, not something that either the Akatsuki or Sound gang members would drive. But my mother surely would.

I barely recognized the woman stepping out of the little red flashy car as the woman who used to be my mother, her appearance so changed from plastic surgery and a lot of expensive make-up. She walked up towards me but stopped when she was just out of reach from me, opening her mouth to speak.

"Hello my little cherry blossom, have your baby-sitters finally had enough of you?" Her voice was completely calm and icy cool, nothing like the sweet, caring voice I remembered from my childhood.

"Why do you care? You only want me dead anyway." I told her angrily, suddenly feeling scared that she was right. What if they wasn´t searching for me? What if they didn´t care that I was gone?

I quickly pushed those thoughts away from my mind. Itachi would care if I just disappeared, as would Deidara and Sasori and Kisame and the others.

"That is true; however, it would be much more fun to kill you, if there was no one left to mourn you." And with that she pulled a gun from her designer purse and put it against my forehead without me moving an inch.

I had seen something she hadn´t.

A black ford explorer coming to a stop at the other end of the bridge and the forms belonging to Zetzu, Kisame and Itachi exiting the vehicle.

I focused my eyes on hers, and doing my best to ignore the weapon that could end my life at any given second I asked her.

"Just tell me why? Why are you doing this? Is it really just because of money?"

She laughed.

"Of course it is for the money silly girl… Everything I do is for the money, after all, that´s the only thing important in life." She got a crazy look in her eyes and I instinctively knew that I had run out of time, she was about to kill me and the others were still too far away to be of any use.

If I really wanted to live, I would have to do something drastically.

Before I had time to think my plan through and perhaps regret it, I acted. I ran forward, towards her, and her eyes widened in surprise and she pulled the trigger on pure instinct.

I could hear the bullet whistle past me, barely an inch beside my head and then my body impacted with hers, making us both tumble over the railing of the bridge, sending us into a free fall towards the water far below us.

I could hear someone scream my name, but the screech that the woman underneath me let out drowned out all other sounds. The fall felt like it went on forever, but in reality it could have been only a few seconds.

The impact we did against the water surface made every single bone in my body rattle, and I am sure that I felt a few bones of the woman that had involuntarily sheltered me break on impact.

Then the cold, murky water sucked us down and the body of my mother disappeared, hopefully never to been seen in life again.

I felt the current of the river wanting to take me away, to drag me under and to give me a grave at its bottom. I fought against it, struggling and kicking to get my head over the surface once again.

I broke through the surface only long enough to draw in a few gulps of air before the river pulled me back under.

I kept fighting against the current but I was starting to feel like I was fighting a losing fight. As memories of the most precious moments of my life started to flash in front of my eyes, I barely even realized that I had stopped fighting and was now slowly sinking towards the bottom of the river.

But suddenly something wrapped itself around me and pulled me upwards, against the current and towards the surface. I broke the surface gasping for breath and coughing up river water. A blue hand rose from the water and lightly slapped my cheek.

"Come on Kitten, I need you to stay awake. Hold on to me and don´t let go, I can´t take us both safely to shore otherwise."

It was Kisame who had bravely jumped in after me into the water, rescuing me from a death as certain as the one I would have gotten if the bullet from my mother´s gun had penetrated my skull.

I locked my arms around his neck in a hold that was tight and secure but not too tight so that I was choking him, and then held on as he swam against the current with strong, confident strokes.

My body was feeling numb, probably from the cold water in the river but it could also be from being almost certain that my mother was dead and that it was my fault.

Suddenly I felt ground underneath my feet and let go of Kisame's neck, dragging myself from the water and allowing my body to fall to the ground. I rolled over on my back and just breathed for a moment, my chest heaving with every breath and the occasional cough.

"Are you alright… Sakura?" Kisame asked me, panting and from a position next to me that mimicked my own. I turned my head to look at him, my eyes clouded and my teeth shattering because of the freezing cold I didn´t feel.

"Shit…" He murmured before sitting up, taking a deep breath and yelled. "Itachi! Zetzu! Over here!" He lay back down and reached for me, pulling my cold, shivering body close to his own. He too was cold, but not as much as I was.

"It will be alright Kitten don´t worry, everything will be alright. Don´t cry please…" Kisame begged me and I just stared at him with my haunting eyes, not even being aware that I was crying.

But I let him tell me comforting words and then Itachi and Zetzu reached us. Zetzu handed Kisame a blanket from the car to wrap around himself and Itachi wrapped another one around me before lifting me off Kisame's body and holding me close to his own, warmer one. Zetzu helped Kisame up and then supported him on one side as Itachi asked him.

"You okay Kisame?"

"Yeah I´m fine… Only tired and cold. I´m worried about Sakura though… She has a look in her eyes that I don´t like."

I felt Itachi nod and then all four of us began to climb the hill back up to the road and the awaiting car. It took us while since I couldn´t walk at all and Kisame was rather slow-moving but we reached the car and with Zetzu behind the wheel and the rest of us in the backseat, we were on our way home.

I had Kisame on one side of me and Itachi on the other, both of them trying to get my body temperature up again as we drove. I heard them talk to me but I didn´t answer them, I had enough with trying to tangle out the mess my mind had turned into.

My mother was most likely dead and I didn´t know how to feel about it.

On one hand I was kind of relived… on the other I was sad. Even though she clearly didn´t love me or even cared for me, she had still given me life and I couldn´t simply forget about my younger years in her care.

She might´ve only had me for money but she had still taken care of me.

When we parked the car down in the parking garage of Akatsuki´s building all the others were already there, meeting us. I could hear them ask what had happened and what was wrong with me and Itachi and Zetzu explained as best as they could to the others while Deidara, Hidan and Kisame took the elevator up to the apartment with me in Deidara´s arms.

When we got up Kisame immediately left us to go and stand in the shower for an hour or so to warm himself up completely and Deidara and Hidan brought me to my bedroom. Hidan left to go and make some hot cocoa, while Deidara stripped me of my wet clothes and stood with me underneath the hot spray in the shower until I stopped shivering and my lips changed color from blue to their normal pink hue.

When Deidara was satisfied that I had gotten warmer, he turned off the water and quickly dried us off before dressing me in a black silk pajama and himself in a pair of well-worn jeans and taking me back to the bedroom where Hidan was waiting with the cocoa.

They put me in the middle of the bed, my back leaning against the headboard before sliding in after me, Deidara to my left and Hidan to my right. Then they pulled the cover up over us and Hidan put a cup of delicious hot cocoa in my hands.

The warmth and comfort that was slowly trickling back into my body made my head clear up a little, giving me back the control over my limbs and I took a sip of the hot cocoa.

When I had emptied the cup Hidan took it away from me but didn´t leave his spot on the bed. With my hands empty again one was grasped by Deidara and the other by Hidan and then Deidara asked me.

"Are you alright Blossom? What happened, yeah?"

I wasn´t sure if he really expected me to answer but I did, my voice emotionless and almost mechanical.

"I found out from Itachi that he, Sasori and Pein had agreed to ask me to join the Akatsuki as a real member. But Pein never did ask me, he took away my right to make that decision for myself, deciding that it was too dangerous for me after all. He then forbade Sasori to talk about it or bring it up." I took a deep shuddering breath before continuing.

"I lost control… I was so, so angry with him and because of that I left. I walked for hours with my thoughts running wild, not paying any attention to where my feet took me. After a while I realized how stupid I was being and I tried to find my way back, but I was lost and didn´t succeed." I did another pause, this time to gather my thoughts before I hesitantly continued once again.

"The rain was pouring down and I had stopped caring where I ended up when I found the bridge. I stopped on the middle of it, looking down at the water and thinking that it looked rather peaceful when my mother showed up in her car. We started arguing and she said that she wanted me dead because of the money, that everything she did was because of the money. She pulled a gun and pointed it at my forehead but by then I noticed Itachi, Kisame and Zetzu showing up. But the look in her eyes made me aware of that they were too far away to be able to help me, so I ran at her and pushed her over the railing of the bridge." I closed my eyes before continuing.

"When we fell towards the water she was beneath me, involuntarily sheltering me from the impact with the water surface that I knew broke some of her bones. Then the current separated us and I was close to drowning when Kisame saved me."

Everything was quiet when I finished my explanation and I started wondering if they were mad at me.

"So what you´re saying is that…?" Deidara started, sounding shocked.

"You basically killed your own mother instead of the other way around?" Hidan finished from my other side, sounding equally shocked.

"Yeah I guess so…" I answered them in a whisper, tears spilling from my eyes. "And now I don´t know what to feel. In a way I am relieved, and in another I am saddened but I don´t know if I am allowed to feel sadness over this…" Both of their hands tightened around mine and then Deidara said.

"Of course you´re allowed feeling sadness, yeah. No matter what she did or intended to do, she was still your mother."

That made the tears run freely and then the sobbing began.

* * *

Let me know what you think guys.

Love C


	11. Chapter 11 - The new member

I do not own Naruto

* * *

**My life on the line**

_Chapter Eleven - The new member_

* * *

**Warning: **Lime in this one people.

* * *

_Recap: "Of course you´re allowed feeling sadness, yeah. No matter what she did or intended to do, she was still your mother."_

* * *

That made the tears run freely and then the sobbing began.

I fell asleep sometime after that and slept through both the evening and the night, waking sometimes due to nightmares. But every time I woke, Deidara was there and I could fall back asleep.

The next morning came all too quickly and with it, the discussion I needed to have with Pein. Since I didn´t woke up until 10 am, I knew that he would be waiting for me but I still took my time in the bathroom, showering and then dressing myself.

I then went to the kitchen for a quick breakfast before going over to his office where he was waiting for me just as I had expected him to. The apartment was empty except for the two of us; all the others were one floor down, working and hopefully I would be able to join them once I had the discussion with Pein.

I knocked on the door and waited for Pein to tell me to enter before I did so. He was sitting behind his desk and gestured for me to take a seat in one of the chairs standing in front of it.

"I was starting to believe that you wasn´t going to show up." He said, a little awkwardly after I had sat down.

"Sorry, I didn´t wake up until one hour ago." I answered casually, since I was still angry with him I didn´t care that he had to wait a little for me.

"Oh… Are you okay? After yesterday I mean…" He asked then and I could hear genuine worry in his voice. Perhaps I should give him a little slack…

"I´ll be fine…" I answered quietly, shifting in my seat so that I had my knees against my chest, my arms locked tightly around my legs. He only looked at me for a long time before he sighed and deflated a little, slumping in his seat.

"You say that no matter what happens to you don´t you?" I tilted my head in confusion and said.

"Of course not. But I do know what I can recover from and what would break me. And having to kill a mother that wants me dead counts as something I can recover from."

"I still wish you wouldn´t have had to do it…I´m really sorry that everything went so wrong Sakura, you´re right, I should have allowed you to make the choice yourself. But believe me; I only tried to protect you." He said to me in a way that made me a hundred percent sure that he was telling the truth.

"Sometimes one has to do things they rather not, it´s how life works. I know… As long as you realize that you did wrong and don´t do it again…" I told him, still a little hesitantly.

"I won´t, I promise. Do you want to become a member of the Akatsuki?" He asked and I nodded my head, a smile entering my lips.

"Yeah, I really do." I said truthfully and Pein nodded before writing something on a paper in front of him. He then turned the paper around towards me and said.

"I just need your signature then." I quickly wrote down my name and then Pein made some copies of the paper, handing one to me and putting the others away before telling me.

"Congratulations, you are now a member of the Akatsuki. If you go down one floor and find Konan, she can show you around in the office and give you all the things you will need."

I lit up in a smile and walked around the desk to give him a hug. With everything that had happened between the two of us the last 24 hours we could both use one. His arms wrapped around me tightly and he asked me desperately.

"Please just promise me that you´ll be careful? I wouldn´t be able to live with myself if something happened to you because I gave you this job…"

"Don´t worry… I´ll be careful, I promise." When he let go of me I turned to leave the room but when I reached the doorway I looked back at him over my shoulder. He was still standing, a proud smile on his lips and after sending him another dazzling smile, I turned around and left.

* * *

I didn´t have any trouble at all finding Konan despite that I had never been in their office downstairs. For some strange reason, she was the only one there.

"Hi Konan." I greeted her and she looked up from the computer she was working at.

"Hi Sakura, what brings you here?"

"I just signed my contract with Pein; he said that you could show me around and get me what I need? If you´re busy I can wait." I answered her and fiddled with my fingers.

"No I´m good to go now, I was only checking the news, police records and the hospitals in case your mother had turned up either dead or alive but I´ve found nothing so far…" she excused herself but I only waved it off.

"It´s fine, don´t worry about it. She will turn up sooner or later. I felt her bones breaking when we hit the water so I doubt that she is still alive though." I said and after Konan had turned her computer off, she showed me around in the office, telling me where everything was before equipping me with all the standard gadgets that all of the members carried when out on a job.

After all those things were done, she told me that we were going out for lunch with Pein and Zetzu to celebrate before she was taking me shopping. When I asked her why she answered.

"Well you and I have never really had the opportunity for some girl time and I was thinking that now might be a good time. Pein has to go back to work after lunch but Zetzu will come with us to make sure that Sound doesn´t try anything stupid so we´ll both be perfectly safe as well as having someone to carry our bags!"

I couldn´t help but to be drawn in by her obvious happiness and soon I was as excited as she was. We went up to the apartment to change before meeting up in the garage with Pein and Zetzu.

I went to see if I could find Deidara to tell him that I was going out but I couldn´t find him or anyone else anywhere. I figured that they had all gone out on some mission, it wasn´t unusual for any of them to disappear for a few hours every now and then, I knew that I could reach him on his cell if I needed to.

I quickly changed into a pair of black, ripped leggings, a black denim skirt and a t-shirt with a picture of a pair of handcuffs as well as the text 'Want to play?' before putting on some make-up and taking the elevator down to the garage.

Pein and Zetzu were already there and waiting for us, leaning against the car we would ride in. I looked around for Konan but she wasn´t here yet so I walked over to the boys and asked Zetzu.

"Are you excited about going shopping with me and Konan later?" I had to hold back laughter as he only looked at me with disbelieving eyes and answered sarcastically.

"Thrilled." I heard Pein chuckle and then the elevator dinged again, signaling that Konan was ready as well. We all piled into the car and then we were off, perhaps this time I would be able to go out without something happening.

We went to a new place where we all enjoyed some freshly made sushi before Pein had to leave us. He pressed a kiss to my forehead and another one to Konan´s lips before he left though.

Konan, Zetzu and I also got up to leave and in no time at all we were at a huge mall with several floors and everything we could want under the same roof.

We started out in hot topic, where both Konan and I managed to get two bags each full of clothes and accessories that we made Zetzu carry for us. we then visited a few other shops but I found nothing that caught my interest until we passed a tattoo and piercing studio. I stopped and just looked at all the beautiful jewelry that was displayed.

"Do you want to go inside?" Konan asked me with a smile and when I nodded eagerly as a child on Christmas morning both she and Zetzu chuckled before following me inside the store.

I went directly to a display with piercing jewelries for the nipples; I had wanted a nipple piercing for a while now but never gotten around to actually do it. And when I thought about it, another tattoo wouldn´t hurt as well.

What looked to be the owner of the studio came over and talked to Konan for a while, I got the impression that she had done her own piercing here and that they knew each other rather well. But if Pein had done all of his piercings here as well, perhaps that wasn´t so weird.

The owner was a girl that looked to be the same age as Konan and Pein, she had long hair that was dyed black and purple and her eyes were a so dark blue they almost looked black. She herself had a lot of piercings and several tattoos peeking out from underneath her clothes.

I felt her eyes rest on me and then she asked me.

"Hey girl, Konan says that you are interested in a piercing and a tattoo? I have an opening right now where I could squeeze you in unless that tattoo of yours is really large."

"Yeah I am no it´s not very big but do you really have the time right now?"

"I do, the person that had booked this time had to cancel so I am free for two more hours in case you are interested?" I felt my lips turn up in a big smile and I said.

"Well then let´s do this." I got only smiles in return and when the buzzing from the tattoo machine reached my ears, my smile grew even bigger.

When Konan, Zetzu and I left the mall a few hours later I was tired but happy. I had new clothes, new shoes, a new piercing and a new tattoo. It felt a little weird, having a barbell through my nipple but despite the constant friction against my bra it didn´t hurt much.

My new tattoo was on my hipbone, the small red cloud that was Akatsuki´s symbol now decorating my body and I thanked Kami that I wasn´t wearing tight jeans right now.

The whole ride back home, Konan was texting with someone on her phone and judging by her smile and the constant looks she sent me, something was happening that I wasn´t aware of. I allowed her to think that I hadn´t noticed anything but I was aware that there was some sort of surprise waiting to happen.

We got back and got into the elevator and since Zetzu was carrying all of our bags I knew that it was Konan that put her hands over my eyes.

"Konan? What are you doing?" I asked her while trying not to tense up too much. I knew that I was completely safe but the events that had recently happened in my life put me on edge.

"Keeping you from seeing the surprise of course!" She answered happily and I sighed, realizing that she wasn´t going to tell me anything right now.

The elevator dinged and I heard the doors open before a hand that didn´t belong to either Konan or Zetzu grasped one of mine and pulled me along, the others following us.

I couldn´t tell who it was but judging by the size of the hand it had to be either Kisame or Kakuzu that led me through the apartment. As far as I could tell we were going to Pein and Konans room and when she finally took her hands off my eyes I saw that I had been right.

All of our bags were on the bed but when I turned around to look for Zetzu and to find out who had led me here, all I saw was Konan locking the door and giving me a smile that I found a little creepy.

"Could someone please tell me what´s going on?" I asked her and she sighed but relented.

"Your initiation party is what´s going on. It was going to be a surprise but I believe that I won´t get you to change or do anything else unless I told you, right?"

I was prepared for a surprise but I wasn´t prepared for them to hold a party for me, they didn´t have to do that…

But when I told Konan that she only shook her head at me and explained.

"Of course we didn´t have to, but we want to! Ever since you moved in with us everyone had been happier and the familiarity that we share has only grown stronger. We do it because we are so happy that everything worked out and that you have joined us and we want to celebrate that."

I was stunned by her exclamation, I had no idea that I meant so much to them. Sure I hoped that they liked me since I was living with them but I had no idea that they actually liked me enough to do this.

I was silent for a few minutes, but never breaking eye contact with Konan.

"Thank you…" I whispered and she nodded before exclaiming happily.

"Don´t worry about it! Let´s get ready for the party instead, nee?" I nodded as well and then we started digging through our bags for clothes to wear.

Konan let me use the shower first and then I dressed myself while she showered. I put on a relatively simple black dress, it´s only decoration was the back of the dress. It looked shredded and I loved it.

The dress ended mid-thigh so underneath it I wore a pair of black fishnet leggings. I had even put on a brand new set of lingerie from Victoria´s secret, a set in black lace with tiny, tiny pink roses embroidered on them.

Around both of my wrists were two heavy, silver chains and another one was around my throat. On my feet was a pair of my new shoes, black stiletto heels covered in small spikes. I left my hair in my usual style, since it was so short there wasn´t much I could do with it and then I started looking for Konan´s make-up.

"Hey Konan where do you keep your make-up?" I asked her since she had just emerged from the bathroom.

"In the left drawer of my bureau… But can I do your make-up? I have the greatest idea right now."

"Sure…" I answered, a little hesitantly. "As long as you don´t use pink."

"I won´t." She promised me and I sat down on the bed so that she would get access to my face.

When she was done I went over to the mirror to see the result and was pleasantly surprised. She had made my eyes look enormous and my lips plumper and dare I say it… kissable. My lips were a rosy red in color and my eye´s lined with black, the eye shadow was a light blue that had some glitter in it.

I didn´t have to wait long for Konan to dress herself and do her own make-up. When she was done her lips were pink and her eyes accented by black eyeliner and dark blue eye shadow. She was dressed in a pair of black denim shorts, a sparkly black top and on her feet were a pair of awesome high-heeled boots that reached her knees. Her hair was held back from her face with her usual flower clip, this one black instead of her normal white one.

When we deemed ourselves ready we could already hear music coming from the living room and smell the delicious food that was no doubt awaiting us in the kitchen. Konan unlocked the door and outside was Pein and Deidara, waiting for us to get ready.

Pein held his arm out to Konan, who took it and then the two of them left in the direction of the kitchen, leaving Deidara and I alone.

I let my eyes roam over his form shyly and I noticed with a slight blush that I wasn´t the only one who had dressed up for this. He was wearing a pair of black well-fitting and elegant-looking pants, a crisp, white wife-beater underneath a blue silk shirt that he had left unbuttoned.

Around his neck hung a silver chain, matching the one I wore and I noticed that he had one around his right wrist as well. His hair was loose from the usual up-do he wore it in and it cascaded down to his shoulder blades, making me want to run my fingers through it.

I had been too busy staring at him to notice that he was doing the same to me but now I noticed and the blush decorating my cheeks grew even darker as he told me breathlessly.

"You truly are beautiful Blossom…"

"You don´t look to bad yourself." I told him and he held out his arm for me to take, leading me to the kitchen where the others were waiting for us.

The night turned out to be much more fun than I had originally expected.

In the kitchen we had a fancy dinner, made up from all my favorite dishes and desserts. Pein held a short speech with made me blush like madman and then we all relocated to the living room for the rest of the party now that the formal and more elegant part was over and done with.

We all took seats in the couches to play a game of truth or dare, thanks to the wine served with the food everyone was relaxed enough to actually join in on the game. It was quickly decided that I should start the game because it was my initiation we celebrated.

"Very well then, Hidan, truth or dare?" I asked with a smile on my face and a drink in my hand.

"I pick dare of course! I´m no wimp." Hidan bragged and an evil smile slowly emerged on my face, making him swallow nervously.

"I dare you to let Konan and I take photos of you then, with you wearing a dress of our choice, complete with make-up and accessories."

Some of the other guys laughed but I never took my eyes of Hidan´s red face until he said quietly.

"Fine… Let´s get this over and done with…"

Konan and I were immediately on our feet, dragging Hidan with us as we went back to Konan´s and Pein´s bedroom. We pushed Hidan down to sit on the bed before starting to rummage around in Konan´s closet in search for the perfect dress.

"To bad you don´t have any pink ones…" I said and then giggled as I heard Hidan respond from the bed.

"Thank Jashin for small favors…"

"Yeah I know… But how about this one?" She asked and held up a short baby-doll dress for me to see. It was baby blue and would be absolutely adorable on Konan; on Hidan it would only look hilarious though.

"It´s perfect." I answered with a grin and we more or less forced Hidan into the dress before curling his hair and putting on his make-up.

When we were done we had to forcibly drag him back to the living room, laughing all the while. The others were laughing and yelling insulting things at him as Konan and I made him pose for our photos. As soon as we told him the dare was fulfilled he stalked away to his own room to change back in his own clothes and to wash the make-up off, Konan following to make sure he didn´t burn her dress.

When they got back the game continued and soon Konan got asked by Hidan.

"Konan, truth or dare?"

"Dare." She answered bravely although I could see nervousness hidden in her eyes.

"I dare you to make out with Sakura for a full minute." Only silence followed his statement and I saw Konan hesitantly seek out my eyes, hoping for an indication of what to do.

I only smiled at her, raising one of my eyebrows as if to ask her if she dared to. She still hesitated so I nodded my head slightly and winked at her, making a sly smile erupt on her lips.

We were both thinking the same thing, to give the boys a show they would never forget.

She rose from her seat and walked over to me with swaying hips. I felt Deidara and Itachi who were seated on either side of me tense as she sat down in my lap and tilted my face up to meet with hers before our lips connected in a kiss.

It felt a little weird to be kissing Konan of all people like this but I gave it my all so the boys would get a show. When her tongue found mine I heard several of the guys groan and I had to fight a smile.

When Hidan announced that the minute was up Konan got off my lap and walked over to her own place before continuing the game. I could see that all of the males in the room with us were sporting blushes and giggled quietly to myself.

The game went on for another hour or so and we were all starting to get a little drunk. When we got tired of playing truth or dare Konan and I enjoyed a good laugh while watching some of the boys playing a game or two of twister.

But eventually, even this night had to come to an end.

* * *

I was sitting on the couch and laughed as Hidan and Kakuzu were wrestling on the floor because of something Hidan had said. Konan was sitting next to me and giggling as well when she was suddenly picked up by Pein who told her that it was time for bed.

I stopped laughing and realized that now that Pein and Konan were gone, only Hidan, Kakuzu, Deidara and I remained awake.

Suddenly Deidara was standing in front of me and asked.

"Ready for bed Blossom?" I shook my head no stubbornly and only smiled evilly when he sighed and picked me up, slinging me over his shoulder before turning and walking out of the room.

He did exactly what I hoped he would.

After he had closed the door behind us and were walking towards the bed I took the opportunity given to me and pinched his ass. He jumped and stopped for a moment before continuing onwards and more or less dumping me on the bed.

He glared at me but looked a little taken aback at the mischievous look on my face. He could tell that I was planning something.

I rolled off the bed and got to my feet, circling around him until he was standing in between the bed and I. then I pounced on him, making him fall backwards onto the bed, trapped underneath my body.

I kissed him deeply while at the same time tugging at his clothes, trying to get them off of him. He sensed the urgency in me and flipped us over so that he was on top before quickly stripped both himself and then my body of clothes. He stopped when he got off my bra though.

"A nipple piercing? Since when do you have a nipple piercing?" He asked me and I only whined because of the loss of attention from his hands and answered.

"Since today… so don´t tug on it." I warned him and he continued his ministrations. At least until he found my new tattoo.

"You did a tattoo as well?" I growled and flipped us over again, locking his naked body underneath my own just as naked one.

"Yes I did a tattoo as well, now are we going to talk or are you going to fuck me?" That got a smirk out of him and he answered confidently.

"Oh don´t you worry, I´m going to fuck you until you beg me for mercy."

And he really made me beg.

* * *

Let me know what you think.

Love C


	12. Chapter 12 - Epilogue

I do not own Naruto

* * *

**My life on the line**

_Chapter 12 – Lingering danger or peaceful ending?_

* * *

A few days passed by calmly, no more attempts were made on my life but the guys were still watching Sound for movements that might indicate that they were up to something.

I had taken over Konan´s self-appointed chore and was searching the news, hospitals records and police stations for any news about my mother. I really did believe that she was dead but until I saw her body with my own eyes I didn´t dare take my guard down.

As usual I expected to find nothing but today when I entered the local newspapers website I saw something I wasn´t prepared for. A picture of a body, still lying halfway in the river was on their front page and I instantly recognized the body to belong to my mother despite its state of decay.

I read the article and quickly concluded that it really was my mother and that she really was dead. The police had identified her with the help of dental cards and since her car had been found at the bridge, it had been written off as a suicide.

I sat in front of the computer for almost thirty minutes before moving, accepting my mother´s death for what it was and concluding that while I felt a little sadness, I mostly felt relief.

But when those thirty minutes had passed I stood up from my seat and went to find Pein. I found him in his office, working on some papers and when I knocked on the open door he looked up and asked me.

"Can I help you with something Sakura?" I nodded before telling him.

"Yes I need you and Sasori to come with me to the police station, they have found our mothers body."

Pein immediately dropped the paper he was reading and stood from his seat, coming around the desk to wrap his arms around me in a hug. It wasn´t that I didn´t love the hugs all of the guys gave me but right now I wasn´t in the need of one even if Pein seemed to think so.

"Pein? I´m fine, you don´t need to comfort me." I told him and squirmed a little in his slightly too tight hold. He felt me squirm and eased up on the hold a little even if he didn´t let go completely.

"When you first came to stay with us you would have needed it."

"Yeah but I´m not the same person as I was back then, I´m stronger now."

"I know… and that´s partly why I think that you need some comfort now more than ever. The fact that you have had to grow stronger is something I wouldn´t have wished for you, you were strong before all this happened. I´m worried about you…" He admitted and I hugged him back before releasing him and breaking his hold on me.

"That´s so sweet of you Pein but it truly isn´t necessary, I´ll go and tell Sasori and then maybe we can go down to the police station and get this over with." I told him before leaving his room, not noticing the worried eyes that followed my every movement until I was out of sight.

Sasori had much of the same reaction as Pein but after another hour or so, the three of us were finally on our way down to the police station. We had called the police chief and updated him on the situation so he knew we were coming down and everything should go smoothly.

It seemed as if the middle of the backseat was going to be my designated spot forever since I was once again buckled into that specific seat. Pein was behind the wheel and Sasori was sitting next to him, both of them serious and silent.

It didn´t take long for us to reach the police station though, and when we did we were immediately escorted down to the morgue. The room was nothing but stainless steel and the smell of industrial strength detergent but strangely that didn´t affect me as much as I would have thought.

The police chief entered the room with another male and they went directly to one of the slots on the far wall.

"Are you sure that you want to see her? She´s in a bad condition." The chief of police asked us and when all three of us nodded, he gestured for the other man to open the cooling compartment and show us our mother's body.

My hand instinctively flew up to my mouth as the smell of her rotting body reached us. She looked bad, all swelled up and gray in color but dear god the smell… I heard Sasori cough and looked to my sides to see that both Pein and Sasori had had similar reactions to mine.

Thankfully the body was quickly rolled back inside the slot, hiding both sight and smell from us and Pein thanked the chief of police for his cooperation before we turned around and prepared to go back home.

We were interrupted in the lobby though, Pein and Sasori running into someone they knew and I told them that I would wait outside while they talked. They only nodded their confirmation and I stepped outside, leaning against the wall and turning my head up to face the sunlight.

It wasn´t long before I was disturbed though.

"My, my, my, I never thought I would run into you here of all places, Sa-ku-ra." A creepy voice said out loud only inches from my face. I flinched and my eye immediately popped open to see who intruded on my personal space.

It was Orochimaru.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, trying not to show him any fear while at the same time searching desperately for Pein and Sasori.

"I´m here to bring the body of your mother, of my wife to the crematorium that will take care of her ceremony. I assumed that you hadn´t planned on attend to her funeral, it was after all you who killed her." He told me angrily and I could see the madness barely concealed behind the yellow irises of his eyes.

"Step away from her!" Another voice commanded him and I looked over his shoulder to see that both Pein and Sasori were standing behind him.

He did as they told him, but not before whispering in my ear.

"I will make you regret taking my love away from me, that´s a promise."

And then just like that, he was gone, and Pein and Sasori were pulling me towards the car, suddenly in a rush to go home. The ride home disappeared among my rampant thoughts and after what felt like only seconds, I was back in my bedroom, sitting on my bed with Konan holding my hands and talking non-stop.

Some of the few words I managed to understand told me that she wanted me to stop crying and that Deidara would be back in a couple of hours. I didn´t understand their significance, I wasn´t crying and I certainly wasn´t crying for Deidara to come home.

It turned out I did just that but I didn´t realize it at the time.

When Deidara finally showed in the doorway, Konan almost cried with relief and gave him a quick hug before leaving us and closing the door behind her. He quickly came over to me and sat down next to me, pulling me in for a hug.

He then wiped something off of my cheeks, tears probably and he told me.

"Pein and Sasori filled me in on what happened, there´s no need to worry Sakura, I´ll keep you safe."

It didn´t stop my tears but I don´t think he expected it to. He started kissing my face and my lips before continuing down my neck and then my body as he slowly removed my clothes.

And for a little while I forgot about everything as he used his body to give me pleasure in a way no other man had been able to give me.

Later that night after he had fallen asleep with me safely in his arms, the only question that was left bouncing around in my head was.

Was everything over now? Or had it only just begun?

* * *

Please let me know about this last chapter for the story? I might write a sequel if I get my inspiration back.

Love C


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